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)

2. Fourze Genesis - Boot Up Our Training!

Preface:

If you're reading this, then welcome back! I don't have much else to say, so here's Chapter 2.

---

Chapter 2: Fourze Genesis - Boot Up Our Training!

Third Person POV

"In other words, Shido, you're going to go on a date with these spirits. Make 'em go crazy for you! Win them over and convince them to enjoy life in this wonderful world!" Kotori explained with a giant grin plastered across her face. Shido could only feel the beads of sweat piling up on his brow.

The moment he awoke from the injuries he sustained during the aftermath of Origami and the mysterious purple woman's battle, Shido found himself bombarded by one unbelievable thing after another. Each nugget of information that was given to him was somehow even more insane than the last.

Otherworldly beings known as Spirits exist and wreak havoc on our world. The girl he met was one of these Spirits? The government has a branch of soldiers trained to kill them called the Anti-Spirit Team? He's been recruited by a secret organization that was formed to save these beings? His little sister turns out to be the commander of this organization who also pilots a giant airship currently floating 15 kilometers in the air?

And, the cherry on top, Shido is the only one who can save these Spirits by making them fall in love with him and by proxy the world.

"I'm sorry… what…?" Shido finally spoke up after an eternity of processing that information. Kotori crossed her arms as her face twitched in annoyance.

"How many times do I have to repeat it?! When's the last time you cleaned out the wax in your ears!" Kotori angrily retorted.

"No, I heard you the first time. It's just, surely there's another way…" Shido nervously fidgeted his fingers. While the whole situation was completely outlandish, Shido felt more taken aback by Kotori's newly abrasive attitude than anything.

Kotori, his sweet and energetic little sister whose smile could clear up the cloudiest of days, looked at Shido like he was a piece of dog poop stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

"Oh look at Mister 'I think I know better.'" Kotori responded in a mocking tone. "Do you really think you can do this without our help? You saw firsthand how dangerous Spirits can be. Realize that the only thing you'd accomplish by yourself is finding an early grave. Of course, could it be that you just don't have the guts to save these Spirits from being hunted and killed?" Kotori put her fingers to her chin in a taunting manner.

Shido clenched his fist in anger. It pained him to accept it, but deep down, he knew Kotori was right. The only reason his injuries weren't more severe was because of Kotori and her crew coming in to save him immediately. If he refused their help, who knows how long he would even last?

Sure, he didn't like the dating methodology that Kotori proposed. Scratch that, he absolutely hated it. However, he couldn't shake the guilt of knowingly allowing the AST to continue hunting Spirits relentlessly. Besides, the look on that Spirit's face. The look of sadness and loneliness on her face had been etched into Shido's brain the moment he saw it. His consciousness wouldn't allow it if he just sat still.

"Alright! I understand! I'll do it…" Shido got out, pain and embarrassment mixed in with his voice.

"Well said." Kotori grinned as she leaned back in her chair. Her expression made it obvious that she never believed Shido would refuse anyway.

"Given the current data, we can expect the next appearance of the Spirit in around a week. Your training will start tomorrow, so prepare yourself." Kotori calmly explained.

"Hang on… training?!" Shido shouted back.

"Yeah, that's right. Training. Did you really think you'd go into the battlefield given your current state?" Kotori responded incredulously. Shido could only stammer out in confusion.

"Get some rest and savor it. It'll be the last time you'll get some in quite a while." Her face contorted into an ominous grin. Shido felt the sweat dripping from his head even faster now.

"Reine, show Shido the exit. I've got preparations to make." Kotori motioned for her to come and take Shido away.

"...Understood." Reine responded listlessly. A mature lady wearing a beige uniform, and a face that looked like it hadn't seen sleep in decades, guided Shido out of the room.

With the two exiting the bridge of their airship, Fraxinus, Kotori went back to looking at the monitor on her personal station. Her eyes went over the recorded footage of the Spirit, codenamed Princess. The footage showcased her appearing in their world and the subsequent battle that took place. Kotori had inspected it while Shido lay unconscious, but of course, the moment she noticed something odd in the footage was the moment Shido entered the room.

She skimmed through the footage again before pausing and rewinding a little. Her eyes weren't playing tricks on her after all. Though it was small and blurry, there was unmistakably something completely foreign captured in those frames. A mysterious white armored warrior flying with a monstrous red humanoid being.

"These beings… I get the feeling Woodman's involved somehow." Kotori silently mused to herself as she paused on one of the frames. While she didn't communicate with her supervisor that often, she happened to recall an odd message he gave her during one meeting.

He warned her about beings other than Spirits that will appear and wreak havoc. However, he then instructed Kotori not to worry about them as he had already prepared the necessary countermeasures.

Kotori squinted her eyes at the still frame, going over it like a fine-tooth comb. Minutes later, she let out a lengthy sigh and defeatedly laid back on her chair.

Ratatoskr's mission is to save Spirits. That sole mission caused her and the rest of the organization to be swamped with work. She couldn't divert any more effort into solving a mystery that didn't concern her or the organization, especially now that Shido has entered the picture.

With a tap, the recording was closed, and the familiar desktop background image of Fraxinus's logo appeared. Kotori's eyes began to glimmer with life. After all, it was finally time to make good use of everything she had collected over the past couple of years!

She tapped on a folder conspicuously labeled "Motivation for Shido's Training". Expanding the contents for her to see. Scrolling through the folder, her grin only widened with each new file shown.

Original characters Shido had drawn up, old sappy poems that he had written, footage of Shido practicing techniques and moves from anime he watched. Chances are, if it was something Shido never wanted the world to find out, it was in one of these files.

"Now… which of Shido's embarrassing secrets should I threaten to reveal first?" Kotori evilly grinned as she began sifting through the files, looking for the perfect one.

While walking through Fraxinus's corridors with Reine, Shido felt an eerie shiver go down his spine. He couldn't help but feel like his safety and dignity were being threatened for some unexplainable reason.

---

Asher's POV

Not a single peep was heard on the way back to Raizen High. The roaring silence just bolstered my agitation over the dream I witnessed earlier. Regardless of how much I thought about it, I ended up coming up with more questions rather than answers.

All of a sudden, we came to a stop. I snapped out of my daze and looked up to see we were already at our destination, Raizen High.

We sneaked into the shelter bunker once again, but the place was now completely empty. I guess since the Spacequake warning was over and school ended early, everyone had already left and returned home.

Thankfully, this made it much easier to sneak back to Rabbit Hutch, since there wasn't a crowd of eyes we had to worry about.

Navigating through the abandoned hallways, we eventually arrived at our end goal. A locker in an old storage room. Kengo opened its door and the two of us went through the tunnel of light towards Rabbit Hutch.

Once inside, I lazily lay on one of the table's benches in the center of the base. It had been an exhausting, and might I add painful, day and all I wanted to do now was just sleep.

"Here." Kengo suddenly called out. I opened my eyes and titled my head up. Kengo looked down at me while offering an ice pack.

"Thanks." I took it and slowly applied it to the biggest bruise on my stomach.

"Are you alright?" Kengo asked.

"Hmm? Oh yea. I'll be fine, I'm sure. It's just bruises, nothing too major." I responded, trying not to make Kengo worry.

"I apologize. It was my fault for forcing the driver onto you spontaneously."

"Don't worry about it!" I sat up straight to talk to him more easily. "Sure, the whole thing was… a bit surreal, but I'm telling you I'm fine! If anything, I should be asking if you're alright. You know, since you kinda collapsed when you tried to put this on." I shook the driver on my waist to let him know what I was referring to.

"I'm okay, but…" Kengo's suddenly began trailing off. He turned around and started muttering to himself.

"...it doesn't make any sense. I know my body is weak but even still, I should've been able to transform for a few minutes at the minimum, so why does this keep happening…?" Kengo silently mumbled to himself.

"Kengo… is everything ok?" I called out to him worriedly. He quickly turned around. His face had a reassuring expression, but I could get the sense he was feigning it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about some things…" Kengo replied half-heartedly. Silence filled the base, the only sound being the ruffling of my clothes when I readjusted the ice pack.

"So… where exactly did you get this driver? Also, how did you even find this place?" I asked curiously. With the danger and adrenaline having died down, my curiosity about the entire situation resurfaced. It's not every day you find yourself on a moonbase with a driver that can transform you into an armored super warrior.

"Well, it's a long story…" Kengo sighed deeply. I gave him a nod, encouraging him to continue. He seemed to have gotten my intentions.

"Last year, on my 16th birthday, I received an unknown present. Inside the box was an Astroswitch and a letter. The letter read 'That Switch will open a new door. Learn your fate. The password is Fourze. Whether you grasp that fate or not is up to you.'"

"Do you know who sent the present?" Kengo shook his head in response to my question.

"The letter was signed E.B.W., but nothing else. There were no other hints as to where the package had come from either." Kengo responded.

"Usually, I would go to that abandoned storage room whenever I wanted some time alone." Kengo continued. "It was there I opened the package, read the letter, and activated the Astroswitch."

"You activated it?"

"Yeah. The Astroswitch glowed a bright light when I did. I threw the Astroswitch into the locker and closed the door out of panic. I thought the light would never die down but eventually, it did. I opened the locker door only to… well, you know the rest." Kengo gestured to the door that we used to enter Rabbit Hutch.

"I see… so that explains how you found Rabbit Hutch…"

"When I first entered Rabbit Hutch, I found the Fourze Driver lying on the desk in the computer lab. Additionally, the computer had a pop-up message already displayed. It warned that individuals known as Zodiarts will soon appear and use the power of Cosmic Energy for evil. The only method to defeat them is to use the Fourze Driver and the Astroswitches."

"Hmm… is there anything else in that message? Like who made the Fourze Driver?" I asked.

Kengo slightly froze up for a couple of seconds, before slowly answering my question.

"No… there wasn't anything else in that message." Kengo solemnly said.

"I see. Then, what about identification? Did the person who wrote the message leave a name?"

"That's the odd part. It seems the author left their initials at the bottom of the message. They were 'K.E.'" Kengo answered thoughtfully.

"Huh? So the person who sent you the package and the person who left you the message in Rabbit Hutch were two different people?" I questioned.

"It seems so."

"That's weird… I wonder if the two of them are working together…" I mumbled to myself, trying to find a possible answer to this mystery.

I let out a sigh, digesting all the information Kengo shared with me. I laid back down on the table bench as I continued to apply the ice pack to the other bruises on my body. It seems we aren't the only ones who know about Fourze and the Zodiarts. If they led us to the Fourze Driver and Rabbit Hutch, then they must want to help. But if that's the case, why are they being so secretive about their identities?

Arghh, all this thinking makes my brain hurt.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked Kengo. He looked over at me before mulling to himself. After a couple of seconds, he began to speak.

"The Orion Zodiarts is still out there, so we'll need to keep a lookout for any activity of Cosmic Energy. Also, we should investigate the students or staff here to find out who Orion could be. If we manage to catch the user of the Zodiarts Switch before they transform, we could stop them from wreaking havoc again." Kengo calmly explained.

"Eh? Is the Zodiarts someone at Raizen? Also, Orion?" I asked.

"It's not confirmed if Orion's host is a student here yet, but I have my suspicions. Both times Orion appeared, he appeared on the school grounds. While it is possible that Orion could be an outsider, I think it is highly likely that it is someone who attends or works here." Kengo concluded.

"That's… logical now that you put it like that." I got out. I hadn't noticed the significance of that observation. My mind was mainly filled with thoughts like "Oh my god. It's the big monster. I'm going to die."

"And the name?" I reminded Kengo.

"Ah, that. The Zodiarts are based on the constellations. The pattern of the markings on the Zodiarts was that of the constellation, Orion."

"Ehh, that seems oddly… convenient?" I commented. Kengo only shrugged his shoulders. "So? What are we going to do about it? Go up to random students and interrogate them?" I jokingly continued.

"According to the message that I received, Zodiarts Switches sync up with their host's negative thoughts and enhance them. That should mean whenever a person becomes a Zodiarts, they should behave strangely and their personality should alter."

"So basically, look for people who've been acting strangely recently?"

"That's correct. However, I should warn you that this is only a speculation on my part. There's no guarantee that someone who has suddenly changed in personality or behavior is Orion. Regardless, it could lead us in the right direction and narrow down the pool of suspects that are available to us." Kengo carefully warned.

"So, just in case, be on the lookout for any students or staff acting strangely. Got it." I reiterated.

"Of course, it could be that my hypothesis is wrong and Orion isn't a member of the school at all. In any case, all we can do is just be vigilant and be ready for when Orion strikes next. Though, given the recent battle, it might take a while for Orion to fully recover." Kengo explained. However, the mention of the battle I had earlier caused another question to resurface.

"Oh yeah! Kengo, there was this weird purple energy wave that happened and then Orion suddenly got stronger. Do you know anything about it?" I questioned Kengo for answers, though he gave an exhausted sigh.

"Unfortunately, the only thing I can surmise is that the energy wave might be the cause for Orion's growth in strength. I don't have any concrete answers at this point. Asher, when you were fighting Orion, was there anything strange that you witnessed? Perhaps it could be a clue to explain the odd phenomena that you saw." Kengo asked.

Heeding Kengo's words, I closed my eyes and reminisced on the events that had occurred. In my memories, Orion didn't do anything different or new. However, as I recall the area the battle took place in, I suddenly remember. It wasn't just the two of us there.

"Oh! That's right! I remember now! But I'm not sure if it's related…" I suddenly exclaimed before trailing off.

"You should share it anyway. Anything could be a clue for us."

"Well, I used Rocket to take Orion away from the school and toward the area where the Spacequake struck. But when I got there, I saw that there were people fighting in the sky in front of me!"

"People in the sky? Fighting?" Kengo replied, a bit confused.

"Yea! There were a bunch of people in exosuits with jetpacks. One of them was fighting with someone who was wearing purple armor and had a big sword. I think that person was a woman?" I continued to recall what I had seen earlier.

"Wait a moment. In the area where the Spacequake had just struck, there were people in exosuits fighting a woman who had purple armor and a broadsword… all while flying in the air?" Kengo emphasized though he sounded like he was in complete disbelief.

"Well, I mean, yea. That's what I saw?" I scratched the back of my head nervously. The way Kengo repeated my testimony made me realize how outlandish the whole thing sounded. I could see why even he had a hard time believing it. Although, now that I thought about the girl in purple armor a bit more, I did recall one more minor detail about her.

"Hmm, well, maybe my mind was playing tricks on me at the time, but I could swear I felt some aura coming from that girl in purple armor." I nervously got out.

"Aura? What do you mean by that?" Kengo pressed.

"Well… I mean like… an aura? I don't know. It's kinda hard to explain. The air had this heavy pressure and my body became slightly tingly as I got closer to her. Something like that?" I mumbled. It really was hard to explain the feeling in words.

Kengo was looking completely unamused by my very unscientific description of the girl's "aura".

"Well, regardless of the usefulness of the information provided, it does paint a troubling situation." Kengo stated.

"Why?"

"A Spacequake struck that area and all the residents should've evacuated to the bunkers around town. So why would there be people in the area so soon after the Spacequake struck, much less fighting?"

"That's…!" Kengo brought up a good point. No one should've been outside in the area, so what were those people doing there? Was there something more behind the Spacequakes?

"In any case, we shouldn't divert too much of our focus trying to solve that mystery." Kengo's voice suddenly brought me out of my thoughts. "Our focus is to prepare for the next time Orion will strike and be on the lookout for any signs of who he could be." Kengo explained.

"That's true."

"Since we should have some time before Orion regains all of his energy, I'll be training you on how to better utilize the Astroswitches, as well as how to ride a motorcycle."

"Hold on for a second… I get the part about training with the Astroswitches, but is learning how to ride a motorcycle really necessary?"

"Of course. Being able to quickly transport yourself from one location to another is quite important, especially if the Zodiarts is agile."

"But couldn't I just use Rocket if I needed to get to one area from another?"

"Don't be so frivolous with Fourze's powers. Besides, you'd be able to use it outside of situations where Fourze isn't required or can't be used."

"That's true, I guess… but I don't even know how to ride a bike…"

"Well then, I advise you to buy some kneepads and elbow pads." Kengo snarked. I let out a groan as my head slumped. Who knew this training had a monetary fee attached?

"...ugh… I understand…" I weakly got out.

"One last thing, Asher. Would you mind leaving the Fourze Driver with me?" Kengo inquisitively asked.

"Sure, I don't mind. Why though?" I took the Fourze Driver off my driver before handing it off to Kengo.

"Well… for maintenance. This was Fourze's first official outing, so I need to check if everything's working." Kengo stiffly replied.

"First outing? You're telling me no one's ever transformed with Fourze before me? Not even you?" I responded in shock. I didn't mean anything bad by this, but Kengo's complexion darkened as I finished speaking.

"It's… a topic I'd rather not discuss." Kengo spoke solemnly, clutching the Fourze Driver tighter in his hands.

"Oh… I'm sorry about that. I didn't know it was a sensitive topic." I apologized to Kengo.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it too much. I'll see you tomorrow after school." Kengo replied to me, but he still sounded a bit dejected.

"Ok. Kengo, I'll see you tomorrow." I replied a bit joyfully to help cheer him up a little. With that, I left Rabbit Hutch leaving Kengo alone in the moonbase.

Leaving the bunker, I made my way back to my small apartment. Sure, I was a bit nervous about what our training would entail, especially regarding anything to do with the motorcycle. However, my mind was more focused on the 'school' portion of the day tomorrow, specifically, one conundrum I knew I was going to be confronted with.

"What in the world am I going to say to Okamine-sensei when I see her tomorrow?" I nervously thought to myself.

---

Third Person POV

Kengo sat alone in the computer lab within Rabbit Hutch. Wires were hooked up to the Fourze Driver as numerous readings and measurements were displayed on the computer.

Kengo typed away furiously on the computer. For a simple "maintenance check," he seemed to be doing a lot more than just checking if everything was simply functioning as normal.

As exhaustion slowly caught up to Kengo, he simply rubbed his eyes and forced himself to keep working.

"Father... Why am I not allowed to be the one to carry on your burden?" Kengo poignantly questioned, as he continued to work well into the night.

---

Asher's POV

April 11th

My alarm woke me up at 7:15 AM. I slowly got up from my bed, washed up, and put on my school uniform. I decided to quickly eat breakfast before preparing my bag for the new school day.

I put the necessary textbooks and journals into my bag before leaving my apartment for Raizen High. On the walk over to Raizen High, I find myself a little shocked looking at how lively and populated the streets are despite what happened yesterday.

The memories of everything surrounding Fourze and Orion played in my mind. Even though that all happened less than 24 hours ago, those experiences felt like they were a lifetime ago. Maybe my brain was still processing everything? Or maybe it was still numb from the shock?

Who knows?

When I arrived at the school's courtyard, I turned around to look at the city. Even though I couldn't make it out too clearly, it seems that the area decimated by the Spacequake is already fully repaired.

Guess those relief corps in the Self-Defense Forces really work their magic fast, huh?

Unfortunately, I did not have nearly half the expertise of the relief corps when it came to patching things up. Let's just say the talk with Tamae… could've been better.

The moment Tamae saw me in the halls, she dragged me to the teacher's lounge, sat me on a nearby chair, and proceeded to lecture/scream at me for nearly 20 minutes for how stupid and reckless my actions were. I could barely say anything from the occasional "I'm sorry…" or "Please forgive me…" with how little room she gave me to respond.

"Honestly! My poor, young, maiden heart can't handle all this stress so soon to the start of the school year! I feared you died or got seriously injured when you ran out from the bunker and didn't return!" Tamae cried out as her speech was coming to a close. Thank god I decided to arrive early…

"I'm really sorry Okamine-sensei, I promise I won't do it again…" I profusely apologized, being unable to look her in the eye due to the guilt.

"Aaaahh, to think that there would be another student who would do something so reckless…" Tamae mumbled to herself, but it was loud enough that I could hear her say it.

"Eh? Okamine-sensei? Are you saying that someone other than me ran out of the bunker at the time?" I was a bit shocked by that revelation. Sure, I knew that Kengo and I had run out of the bunker, but I'm certain Kengo ran out before Tamae spotted him. The implication that a student other than the two of us raised some questions.

"Hmm? Oh yes! Honestly, at this rate, you and Itsuka are going to put so much stress on my heart for the upcoming year. I'm going to have to talk to him later about his behavior…" Tamae sighed. Itsuka… Itsuka… Where have I heard that name before? Right! Shido Itsuka! The blue-haired boy who was talking to his friend about girls and relationships yesterday morning.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you know why Itsuka left the bunker yesterday?"

"Itsuka said he had something important to do and then left. Honestly, I have no idea what could have been so important that he needed to run out from the bunker when a Spacequake was approaching. Doesn't he know how dangerous they are?" Tamae sighed, clearly troubled.

"Speaking of which, what were you doing running out of the bunker yesterday? You said you had something important to do!" Tamae turned to me, an accusing tone in her voice.

"I… err…" My mind racked itself to come up with a good excuse. I couldn't just tell her about the Zodiarts, Fourze, and Kengo's role in the whole situation! It would just cause more problems and drag Kengo into this dilemma. I needed to come up with a good lie and fast.

"I uhh, realized I had dropped uhh, something important. It was, a pendant. Yes! A pendant. It was a memento from my late parents." I quickly answered. I didn't like the excuse I had come up with, but it was the only reasonable lie I could come up with to explain why I'd risk my life going out.

A twinge of regret was already seeping into my heart, which was only intensified by Tamae's reaction to my story.

"Oh, I… I didn't know…" Tamae remorsefully responded as regret filled my heart even more. Her once lively, albeit angry, face had suddenly shifted into a more somber one. The guilt her expression invoked nearly tempted me to take back my words, but I dug myself too deep at this point.

After a couple of seconds, Tamae slowly began to speak again.

"Homeroom is about to start soon… you should return to class." Tamae said, though a bit shaken up from what I had told her.

"I understand Okamine-sensei. I apologize for my actions and I promise not to burden you in the future."

"It's ok, Seung. I understand your actions. Just… remember to take care of yourself. Ok?" Tamae responded with a gentle voice.

"I promise." I confidently responded. Seeing that sad expression on Tamae's face compelled me to promise myself I'd never do anything that'd make her that sad again.

Walking out of the teacher's lounge, I made my way back to my classroom. The time was 8:20 AM, about 10 more minutes before class would start. I looked to see that almost everyone was already in the classroom. Kengo, Origami, Tonomachi, and… Shido. He looked like he was seriously deep in thought.

I took a seat at my desk and continued to observe Shido as he stared off into the void.

Even though there was no solid proof that he could be Orion, it certainly couldn't be out of the question. After all, he leaves the bunker to do something and then Orion appears shortly after Kengo and I leave the bunker. Plus, add the fact that Shido leaves homeroom to "use the bathroom" and I then meet Orion for the first time shortly after. These coincidences put Shido's at the top of my list of suspects… well, the only one to be accurate.

The classroom door suddenly opens, causing me to look up. In came Tamae, as expected, but someone else was following behind her. The person was a woman in a doctor's lab coat. She had a teddy bear plush in the coat's breast pocket and her face looked like she hadn't slept in days— scratch that, months.

"Good morning, everyone!" Tamae energetically announced. My anxiety lifted upon hearing her tone. I was glad she seemed bright and cheery. An upbeat Tamae fits a lot better than a somber Tamae.

"I know that it's only been a single day since the term started, but I would like to announce that we'll be having a new assistant homeroom teacher joining us!"

"...I'm Reine Murasame… I'll be teaching physics…" The woman sleepily got out. It sounded like she was about to pass out.

I didn't expect her to actually pass out though, since seconds later, she fell over, seemingly from exhaustion.

As Tamae and some students near the front of the class went to check on Reine, I suddenly spotted a small note left on my desk. I opened it, only to see the message "Meet at Rabbit Hutch after school." written on it. I looked over at Kengo, who nodded at me when our eyes made contact. Looking at him, however, I noticed small bags under his eyes. Seems like he didn't get good sleep last night.

With that, I put the note into my pocket, as the chaos caused by Reine's collapse continued to unfold.

Will I ever have a normal day of school?

…why do I feel like I jinxed myself with that thought?

---

It was now shortly after 3 PM, meaning classes were now done for the day.

Remembering Kengo's note, I packed everything into my bag and made my way stealthily down towards the school's bunker, making sure no one was following me. After a couple of minutes of double-triple-quadruple checking no one saw me, I entered the room to the abandoned storage room and opened the locker door.

Walking through the now-familiar hallway of light, I eventually reached the door leading to Rabbit Hutch. Upon opening it, I found that Kengo was already there. It seemed he had been waiting for a couple of minutes.

"You're finally here. Alright, we can begin." Kengo proclaimed.

"So, is there any reason why we're meeting? Are we just going to discuss anything odd that we witnessed today?" I asked.

"Well, that and also…" Kengo suddenly revealed four more Astroswitches. They were labeled from 5 to 8. They were pink, white, green, and blue colored respectively.

"…to begin your training to better utilize the Fourze System and Astroswitches." Kengo concluded.

"Oh, great, training…" I tried to feign excitement.

"But, as you said, we should quickly discuss any of our findings. Unfortunately, I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary so far. No odd behavior among the students, no fluctuations in Cosmic Energy readings, nothing." Kengo continued.

"Hmm… well, I talked to Okamine-sensei before class started. She mentioned that another student in our class, Shido Itsuka, also left the bunker when the Spacequake struck yesterday. Well, not after giving me an earful for my reckless actions and making her worry." I sheepishly stated.

"I see… anything else to report?"

"Nope. That's all I've got."

"Interesting. So, Shido Itsuka also left the bunker aside from us. It is certainly true that if my hypothesis is correct and that Orion is indeed a student at Raizen, then certainly, this does put some suspicion on Itsuka. However, as there's no solid proof to go off of yet, the only thing I would advise you to do is to keep an eye on him. Did you notice if he was acting strange or exhibiting any unusual manners?"

"Well, other than the fact he seemed to be deeply lost in thought when I saw him at the start of class, not really."

"I see. Well, in any case, continue monitoring Itsuka."

"Roger." I responded while giving him a playful salute. "So, that's everything we found today?"

"It seems that way." Kengo sighed.

"So then… how exactly is the training going to work exactly?"

"Well, I'll be guiding you on how to more effectively utilize the Astroswitches and allowing you to practice with them so you can get a better feel for their capabilities. It won't be training in the traditional sense."

"I understand but, where exactly would I test out these Astroswitches? After all, I don't think there's a place where I could reasonably use Rocket or Launcher without gaining some attention." I nervously pointed out.

Kengo, in response, just let out a subtle laugh.

"...what? What's so funny?"

"You don't have to worry about finding a suitable training site. No one will interrupt us and no one will be endangered if we do the training here."

"...huh? I mean, yeah, we are alone in Rabbit Hutch, but I don't think it's a good idea to test stuff inside of this place. We are out in space after all." I responded. Kengo's face shifted from mild amusement to disbelief as he softly face-palmed.

"You'll see what I mean. Here." Kengo suddenly stated before tossing me the Fourze Driver.

"Whoa!" I instinctively let out as I just barely caught the driver. I looked at him in confusion, but he only just nodded at me.

"You want me to transform now?!" I cried out in shock.

"Yes, right now." Kengo demanded. I could tell he wasn't accepting any other option. I put it on my waist and flipped all the switches.

【THREE】【TWO】【ONE】

"Henshin!" I shouted as I pulled the lever. A familiar sense of power flowed through my body as I felt the armor around me materialize.

"UCHU KITA!" Before my body could process anything, I felt my body suddenly squat down before raising both hands to the air while yelling at the top of my lungs. The atmosphere became dead silent all of a sudden.

"...do you have to yell that every time?" Kengo flatly remarked.

"Well— uhh… listen, I can't help it! For some reason, my body is just compelled to scream that phrase out and do that weird pose when I transform!" I pleaded with Kengo, though it was clear that he didn't believe what I was saying.

"Regardless of the reason, just follow me." Kengo got up and led me to one of the hallways inside Rabbit Hutch. At the end of it was a giant door which looked like something you'd see as a door to a safe or something. Kengo opened it, though before he stepped into the room, he picked up one of the suits that were hanging on the wall and started putting it on.

"Well, Asher. You certainly were right about one thing you said. We are out in space." Kengo spoke as the realization of where training would take place dawned on me fully.

"Hey uhh, Kengo? Don't you think I should put one on too?" I nervously asked.

"There's no need to worry. Using the Fourze System, you can easily breathe in space." Kengo explained though that didn't quell my fears at all.

Kengo finished putting on the astronaut suit and the two of us entered the room. Kengo then shut the door tightly behind us before pressing a button that was on one of the walls of the room.

Suddenly, the sounds of machinery moving filled the room before being replaced by the sound of rushing air. The doors slowly opened, and I couldn't help but reflexively hold my breath and close my eyes in fear.

However, after a couple of seconds of silence, I felt that none of my organs had popped. Gathering the courage, I opened my eyes, only to see a literal unearthly sight.

Kengo, showing no fear, had already left the room and was already walking on the surface of this astronomical object.

"[Come on! It'll be ok.]" Kengo assured me over the intercom. Gathering any scraps of courage I could muster, I slowly took my first steps out of the room and onto the moon's surface.

I was thrown off by the lower gravity making it feel like I was treading through water, but more than anything, I was more overwhelmed by the sheer emptiness and bleakness of everything. In the sky, the stars were barely visible so it looked more like an empty black sky. The area was just empty. No buildings. No trees. No life. Just nothing but the desolate, rocky, grey landscape of the moon.

I looked around as I walked, just taking everything in stunned silence. Suddenly, I heard Kengo's voice call out through the intercom in my helmet.

"[Asher! Over here! Behind you!]" Kengo's voice echoed through the headset. I turned around to see Kengo in the distance motioning for me to come over.

The slope he was on was rather steep though, so I ended up having to use my hands to help me climb. Finally having reached the top, I stood up and looked ahead.

My eyes widened as I unconsciously let out a gasp. In the distance was the Earth, in all of its round blue glory. The pure blue beauty of it was truly memorizing. Sure, I saw it before from the window in Rabbit Hutch but now, nothing was in between me and the Earth.

"[Well, what do you think?]" Kengo asked.

"It's… beautiful…" I breathed out. "You get to see this every day?"

"[Yeah. Out here, it's open, quiet, and empty. Which means no one else will notice us or get hurt.]"

"I see. So… how are we gonna start our training?"

"[Well, for now, we'll start with Rocket and then continue to the other Astroswitches. For the first exercise, use Rocket to make some laps around Rabbit Hutch. Try and focus on getting used to controlling the propulsion and flying with it.]" Kengo instructed.

"...ok." I nervously whimpered. I was taken aback a bit by how stringent Kengo had been regarding the training. Unfortunately for me, it seems Kengo had already planned out my entire regiment, so no off days for me.

【ROCKET ON】

With Rocket activated, I began my training. My youthful school life awaits yet I'm dedicating it to training like some shounen manga protagonist. Can't I just be normal? Well, I guess I only have myself to blame, I knew what I was signing up for after all.

"[By the way, we'll be doing this every day after school, so don't forget!]" I could hear Kengo's voice as I ascended into space. I reflexively let out a groan, not caring if Kengo had heard it or not.

I wonder if anyone else is doing some weird training regimen after school. What are the odds of that happening though?

---

Third Person POV

"ACHOO!" Shido suddenly sneezed. Seriously, he's been sneezing a lot recently. Maybe it's allergies?

"Eww, gross. Could you not spread your nasty germs all over the place you slob!" Kotori responded as she looked at Shido in disgust.

"It's just the stress getting to me, sorry…" Shido nervously squeaked as he wiped his nose.

Right now, Shido was having the time of his life. And by "time of his life," he meant "I've never wanted to drop dead more in my life."

"...Calm down, Shin. Just think through it logically." Reine calmly advised.

"How am I supposed to think it through logically if this game has no logic?!" Shido argued. He was annoyed that Reine had gotten his name wrong, again, but he was much more angrier at the game right now.

"Well, then it's your own damn fault for having a brain made of mush!" Kotori retorted as Shido made a pretty pathetic noise in response.

As part of his training to deal with Spirits, Kotori and Reine tasked him with completing a romance visual novel. Sure, this proposition by itself sounded ludicrous, but what made the whole ordeal worse was the fact that the choices available to Shido in the game had all been completely absurd. At best, the option would've just come off as creepy. At worst, well… let's say Shido would've gone to jail for a very long time if he did some of these things in real life.

"BZZTT. Time's up. Look." Kotori's commanding voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Huh?!" Shido looked back at the screen, only to see that the scene for the game had shifted. Due to Shido's inaction, the heroine suddenly declared that she couldn't date someone so indecisive or something along those lines and that she couldn't love him anymore. With that, the credits began to roll as the familiar somber melody Shido had gotten too acquainted with played.

"...you've got to be kidding me…" Shido said out loud in despair.

"You won't have the luxury of time when you're dating these Spirits! Keep that in mind! You have to make the right decisions, and quickly!" Kotori reminded him as she pulled out her phone.

"Well Shido, you know the rules! It's punishment time!" Kotori gleefully exclaimed as Shido's face went pale.

"Please… have mercy…" Shido pleaded, though Kotori ignored them all. Shido watched as on another screen, one of the members of Fraxinus had stapled a very sappy love poem Shido had made in his middle-school years on the school's bulletin board.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Shido shrieked out in horror as Kotori's evil grin furthered watching Shido's despair.

"Come on Shido. You know the rules by now. Hurry up and try again. I've still got a lot of material in the backlog you know." Kotori snarked.

"...please… someone save me…" Shido pathetically whimpered out, but in this cruel world, no one replied to his cries.

And so, Shido continued onwards in his quest, like a true hero! Fighting through his tears (and embarrassment), he gathered up all his willpower and picked up the controller once again.

---

Asher's POV

April 20th

It's been 10 days since the initial meeting with Orion and so far. Nothing's. Happened.

There have been no changes in any of the other students, no sightings of any red monsters, no spikes of activity in Cosmic Energy. Nada.

At this point, I was beginning to wonder if Orion was just a crazy hallucination Kengo and I dreamed up. Hell, other than that one time I caught Shido staring off into space the day after I fought the Zodiarts, he didn't seem to exhibit any strange behaviors.

Well, I did notice that every time school ended for the day, an expression of fear and terror was on his face as he headed toward the Physics Preparation Room. Who knows? Maybe he was just really bad at physics.

On the other hand, my training with Fourze and the Astroswtiches was going well. Kengo had been doing routine maintenance after each training session, though I'm not sure what exactly about maintenance was so time-consuming. It seemed like he hadn't been getting good sleep for the past week because of it.

Maybe I should ask to take the Fourze Driver home for a couple of days so he doesn't have to do maintenance? Ah well, maybe I'm overthinking it.

I managed to get more familiar with how to use Rocket and Launcher. However, I found that Drill by itself was functionally useless unless I used Rocket to maneuver around. Seriously, without Rocket, Drill was nothing more than a weight on my leg that made it really hard to walk, let alone attack an enemy.

Of course, I also got the opportunity to test out the other Astroswitches Kengo had shown me previously. Magic Hand, which put an extendable arm on my right arm, could lift heavy things and reach things that were far away. Camera, which put a camera on my left arm, could record high-quality footage and see things that normal humans couldn't see. Parachute, which deployed a parachute on my left arm, just… well… deployed a parachute? Not sure how that one was really useful.

The last switch that was available was probably the most viable in terms of combat, Chainsaw. The only issue with it was where it was located…

---

April ?th

【CHAINSAW ON】

I activated the blue switch on the driver. It was another day, another round of training and testing. We were once again out on the moon's surface to continue my practice of utilizing the Astroswitches.

I suddenly felt something materialize on my right leg only to find…

"Hang on… why is the chainsaw on my foot?" I looked at Kengo judgingly.

"[Don't look at me, I wasn't the one who made these.]" Kengo replied.

"You're not?! I thought you were!"

"[All I'm doing is just reactivating the Astroswitches that were left in Rabbit Hutch.]"

"So, how in the world am I supposed to use this? If it was on my arm, it'd be a different story but this…" I walked around awkwardly. Not only was it unwieldy, but it was also kinda heavy. I tried to use it to cut into some rocks nearby, but I found that the only thing I could do was throw my weight and use the momentum to swing the chainsaw around.

Essentially, I had very little grace when using this and even less control over where I wanted to hit things.

After several sweeps with the chainsaw leg, I attempted to do one final leg sweep. Unfortunately, I miscalculated and ended up not extending far enough. This unexpected result caused me to fall over and land on my back with a pathetic thud.

"...ow." I nonchalantly cried out.

"[Well, at least you can see why we're doing the training.]" Kengo flatly responded.

I got up and dusted myself off. This was going to take a lot of effort to get used to…

---

April 20th

Shuddering a bit after remembering my not-so-pleasant first experience using Chainsaw, I sighed deeply. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as my training on how to ride a motorcycle.

Seriously, thank god for helmets, kneepads, and all the other protection they invented for safety. Who knows how many times I'd fallen off while trying to ride the thing? At least I was improving. Well, I hope so. Kengo said I was and I have faith in his judgment.

The bell had rung just a couple of minutes ago and most people were packing up and preparing to either go home or go to their afterschool clubs.

Since I was on classroom duty for the afternoon, I had to stay in the classroom cleaning up and putting stuff away. It took some time, but the moment I finished, I left the room and turned the corner.

In the distance of the hallway, I saw Shido and Tamae. I didn't think anything was strange at first, but I noticed that Shido was fidgeting and seemed nervous. Whatever conversation he and Tamae were having was quite serious.

Since the halls were quite empty, I decided to just hide behind the corner and pretend to be on my phone, so I could listen in on whatever the topic was about. I felt a bit bad about doing a shady thing, but given how Shido was still one of the few suspects on our list, it was something necessary. Though, at this point, Shido was most likely innocent. This conversation was probably just about some bad grade or—

"Sensei. I'm serious. I seriously want to marry you!" Shido suddenly shouted out. I clamped my hands over my mouth as it took everything I had not to make a single noise.

"What did he just say?! Marriage?!" My eyes widened and I scrambled to peek around the corner. Now I was completely engrossed in listening to their conversation. I carefully spied on them, only to see that Tamae was similarly in shock, just standing completely still on the spot.

After a couple of seconds, I could see Shido lower his head and cup his hand over his mouth. Was he… speaking to Tamae? It didn't look like it.

Suddenly, Tamae grabbed Shido's shoulders and began to tremble.

"Are you really serious…? You do realize that by the time you're old enough to get married, I'll be in my 30s. Will you really be fine with that? Would you really be fine with meeting my parents and the rest of my family? Will you really be okay with taking over the family business when you graduate?! Will you really—" Tamae frantically spouted out, as if possessed by a demon of some kind.

"What in the world am I listening to?" I thought to myself as I just watched the chaos unfold. Not only was Tamae's change in demeanor completely unexpected, but it seems that the confidence Shido had when professing his love had completely vanished. He began to stammer and slowly walk away from Tamae, though her grasp on his shoulders stayed firm.

"I'm sorry! I'm not mentally prepared to go that far yet! Just forget this happened…!" Shido screamed as he managed to break free from Tamae and run away. He ran in the direction towards me and turned the corner. I quickly acted as if I was on my phone and listening to music, trying to fool him into thinking I wasn't listening at all.

Either it seemed to have worked or he was too preoccupied with running away since he ran past me without even paying any attention to me. He eventually turned another corner down the hallway and soon was out of sight.

I looked back at Tamae, who seemed to be fully stuck in delusion land. She was still frantically rambling to herself as if Shido was still in her grasp.

Suddenly, the sound of a crash followed by two people hitting the ground came in the direction of where Shido had turned the other corner. I quickly tip-toed over and peeked around the corner, only to see both Shido and Origami lying on the ground.

Shido frantically got up as Origami dusted herself off. For some reason, his face was extremely flushed.

Shido suddenly put his hand to his ear and started whispering to himself. Either he was arguing with himself for no reason, or something odd was up with him. After a few seconds of seemingly talking to himself, he suddenly began to speak clearly.

"T-Tobiichi… that outfit. It looks cute on you…" Shido nervously stammered out. An awkward silence filled the air.

"It's our school uniform." Origami responded flatly. Was Shido trying to hit on her? After a few more seconds, Shido opened his mouth to speak once again.

"Tobiichi… the truth is… I've known who you are for a long time now." Shido stated. While he sounded less nervous, his delivery felt like he was reading off a teleprompter or something.

"Same here." Origami, seemingly not noticing or caring about the awkward delivery, instantly replied with no emotions.

"R-really? Well, I was really happy when I found out that I would be in the same class as you."

"Same here."

"I haven't been able to take my eyes off of you ever since that first day."

"Same here." Origami responded the exact same way she had for her previous two answers.

It seemed that this was just going to be a standard normal confession. Sure, the incident with Shido and Tamae lingered in my mind, but I felt kinda awkward listening in on this intimate moment. I began to walk away and—

"Really? You do too? Well, I also hang around after class to sniff your gym clothes and stuff."

Huh?

"Same here."

HUH?!

Well, so much for a normal confession! Seriously, what the hell was going on? Not only was Shido's perverted confession as unhinged as his earlier marriage proposal but what was more unbelievable was Origami's reply! Was Shido Orion? I think you'd have to be under some outside influence to casually admit to sniffing someone's clothes. Then again, Origami also admitted to doing the same thing.

Were these two people even normal to begin with?

"Wow… what a coincidence, we're like kindred spirits, you know?" Shido responded, snapping me back to reality.

"Kindred…" Origami repeated thoughtfully.

"In that case, would you like to go on a date with me late— hang on!" Shido suddenly shouted. He began whispering to himself, like having an internal argument with his conscious or something.

"I wouldn't mind going out on a date." Origami's voice cut through the air, bringing Shido back to reality.

"Ahh, you mean like going out together somewhere right?" Shido nervously replied.

"That's what you meant? I thought you wanted to date me. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Am I wrong?" Origami answered.

"W-w-well… you aren't wrong but…" Shido stammered. Now he was backtracking despite being the one to confess to her? Seriously, there was definitely something suspicious about him.

While the complete lunacy of everything that had just happened still lingered in my head, a loud alarm suddenly rang through the entire building, reverberating in my bones.

"This is not a drill. I repeat. This is not a drill. A Spacesquake has been detected. All residents, please…" The Spacequake alarm rang out. Snapping me back to my senses, I saw Origami suddenly run off, leaving Shido alone in the hallway. I realized this was probably the time I should make my way to the Rabbit Hutch before the bunker got too crowded.

With that, I quickly made my way to the abandoned storage room before the main crowd rushed in. Doing one last check to make sure no one noticed or followed me, I opened the locker and made my way to Rabbit Hutch.

---

"You're quite late you know." Kengo looked at the watch on his wrist, his voice sounded exhausted.

"Sorry… some things happened and now a Spacequake is coming…" I panted out, nearly collapsing to my knees as the adrenaline finally subsided.

"A Spacequake you say? Hmm…" Kengo began to think to himself. I got a better look at the now obvious bags under his eyes, which had been growing worse over the past 10 days.

"Anyways, why are you this late? Did something happen?" Kengo questioned. Through my gasps for air, I told Kengo about the events I had just witnessed, namely Shido's interactions with Tamae and Origami. His eyebrow raised further and further with each passing detail.

"...that sounds completely ludicrous." Kengo concluded as I finished my tale.

"I know… but this feels like it's the work of the Zodiarts' influence. I don't think Shido would act like this. At least, I hope so."

"You have a point, but it's too early to conclude that. You said that a Spacequake was coming? I think Orion may use that opportunity to cause more chaos while everyone's away."

"You think so?"

"To be frank, we're running out of options at this point. I'm making an assumption based on the behavior we witnessed Orion exhibit previously. Given that both times Orion appeared he was on school grounds, maybe he wanted to do something here?"

"I see…"

"Furthermore, Orion could've been in hiding for the last couple of days because he knows about Fourze being a student here. If that's the case, then it could explain why we haven't seen any signs of activity in the last several days."

"That's true."

"If my deductions are correct, it might use this opportunity to wreak havoc on the school while everyone's hiding in the bunker. Come on, we should go." Kengo stated and got up, but as he walked to the door, he tripped. Kengo fell face-first onto the ground, he didn't even try to catch himself or extend his arms to break the fall.

"Hey, are you alright?!" I rushed over to check on his condition. His nose was bleeding a bit, but the most concerning thing was that he was barely keeping his eyes open.

"Yea. I'm alright, come on…" Kengo exasperatedly said, the fall having revealed the true extent of his exhaustion. At this point, it wouldn't be far off to say that he and Reine were similar in how much they needed sleep. I was surprised he even managed to get through class in this state.

"What are you saying? You gotta rest!" I told Kengo while wiping up the blood from his nose with a cloth.

"I'm fine, really. I can still walk." Kengo weakly argued. I helped him to his feet and started guiding him to a rest area in Rabbit Hutch. He didn't even try to fight back. Guess it shows how exhausted he truly was.

"Man, what have you been doing so late at night? You need to get some sleep." I told Kengo as I helped him into bed.

"Listen to me Kengo. I'll go out and scout for the Zodiarts. Rest as long as you can. If you wake up, contact me, though I doubt you'll wake up anytime soon." I instructed him.

"Wait, take Burgermeal with you." As if on command, I felt a familiar tug on the sleeve of my pants. Looking down, I picked up the small rover, with it turning back into its burger form once in my hands.

"It'll be good to have an extra pair of eyes out on the field." Kengo said as I put the machine into my bag. I began to leave the room to let Kengo rest, but he called out to me.

"Sorry for this…" Kengo mumbled, a mixture of exhaustion and regret.

"Don't worry about it. After all, we're partners, aren't we?" I assured him before closing the door. With that, I grabbed the Fourze driver on the way out and exited Rabbit Hutch as quickly as I could.

---

Slowly opening the locker door back on Earth, I could hear the muffled sounds of distant chatter. It seemed like everyone was in the deepest part of the bunker. Well, at least this would make escaping significantly more easier. Though, if everyone was that deep in the bunker, it only meant one thing.

Finding an exit to the bunker, I managed to open it after some finesse. Much to my prediction, I was not greeted by the usual pristine and glorious building. Instead, the school building was nearly destroyed, with rubble everywhere. It looked like half of the school had just gone and vanished.

"Jesus Christ… it spawned here?" I thought to myself in disbelief.

Sneaking into the school, making sure not to step on the rubble and glass shards strewn on the floor, it felt surreal seeing how badly ruined the school was. This once magnificent school was now indistinguishable from an abandoned building left to rot. Then again, the relief corps should be coming, so this feeling shouldn't be permanent.

Just taking my time exploring the halls, I began to hear something unnatural mixed in with the ambient noise. Echoing from afar were the sounds of footsteps. I peered around the nearest corner, only to see Shido walking up some stairs in the far distance.

"Shido?! What in the world is he doing here?" I internally questioned as I hid myself until he fully went up the stairs. A part of me wanted to follow him, but at the same time, I had barely even begun to explore the ruins of the school. Besides, if Shido was Orion, then why wasn't he transformed yet? If only I could watch Shido while still exploring the place…

Oh wait.

Pulling out Burgermeal from my bag, I inserted the Camera Astroswitch into a slot. It then transformed into its Rover form while beeping a happy tone.

"Burgermeal, can you secretly follow that man, Shido Itsuka? He went up those stairs, so you should be able to find him quickly." I turned Burgermeal around and pointed him at the stairs Shido just went up. I laid him on the floor before the rover went on its own up the stairs.

Now alone once again, I rushed into an empty room and closed the door. Pulling out the Fourze Driver from my bag, I put it on my waist and flipped all the switches.

【THREE】【TWO】【ONE】

"...henshin!" I whispered as quietly as I could as the familiar armor materialized around my body.

"...uchu kita…!" I managed to subdue the urge enough to just barely shout it out, though I couldn't help myself from raising my arms just a little bit. Really, screw the mystery of Cosmic Energy or the Zodiarts. This weird action I kept doing was the real mystery.

【RADAR ON】

Turning on Radar, I checked the screen to make sure I could see Burgermeal's camera feed. Sure enough, I could see Burgermeal following Shido faithfully.

"Alright, this is good for now." I spoke out loud, partially out of wanting to tell Burgermeal I could see his camera feed.

Talking to a burger robot, maybe I'm the abnormal one here.

Leaving the classroom, I decided to scout in the opposite direction of Burgermeal and Shido. Going through hall after hall, I kept my ears open for any sounds that weren't the sound of wind rustling or rubble shifting. Occasionally, I would check in with Burgermeal to see if it was still following Shido.

After several minutes of exploring, my search ended up at the gym's locker rooms. I was about to leave when I heard what sounded like metal being hammered. I crept my way closer to the source of the sound. The ruckus was coming from one of the men's locker rooms.

I slowly peeked my head around the corner, only to see Orion rampaging inside the locker room. Smashing benches, kicking the lockers open, ripping apart the contents of each one. From my perspective, this seemed incredibly petty and weird. Torn jerseys, ruined shoes, and broken helmets all littered the floor. Sure, I get the Zodiarts could act weird, but why was it doing something so meaningless?

Hang on, if Orion was here, then that confirms Shido isn't Orion. If that's the case, then what was he even doing here?

I quickly checked Radar only to see another startling sight. Burgermeal was spying Shido from behind, who stood near the entrance of a classroom. Across from him was a strange yet familiar purple-armored girl. The girl turned around and I immediately recognized her.

It was the same girl who I nearly crashed into with Rocket over a week ago.

Without a moment's notice, the girl raised her hand before swiping at Shido, creating a blade of air that rushed in his direction.

FYOOM!

An explosion could be heard reverberating through the school, even without Radar. A cloud of dust filled Burgermeal's camera before I suddenly saw the maroon-dusky sky. The blast had sent Burgermeal flying out of the building. Then the camera feed went completely black.

"Itsuka!" I reflexively yelled out in panic. Burgermeal was probably out of commission due to the fall and who knows what condition Shido was in. Before I could even run out to check on Shido, the sounds of stampeding footsteps grew closer and closer. I could only look up as I saw the Orion Zodiarts running straight towards me. The explosion and my scream must have alerted him that he wasn't alone.

Only having enough time to react to his presence, Orion hit me with a lariat, knocking me hard onto the ground. Groaning in pain, I desperately got to my feet before Orion could make another move.

KABOOM! KABOOM!

Another series of explosions rocked the school, the shockwave nearly knocking me off my feet again. It only took me a millisecond to realize what those explosions entailed.

"Shit, I don't have time to deal with you!" I yelled out to Orion, who turned around to look at me. I needed to wrap up this fight quickly. Who knows if Shido was still alive at this point?

With that, I turned off Radar and put my hands up, readying myself for another brawl with the Zodiarts.

---

Running towards each other again, I managed to dodge Orion's heavily telegraphed punch. Using the opportunity, I wailed at him with a series of rapid jabs before grabbing his collar and throwing him away to gain some more distance. I knew that in a cramped area such as this, I was at a big disadvantage. None of my current Astroswitches were effective in close-quarters combat.

My plan was the same as last time. Use Rocket to transport Orion into a more open area then use my Astroswitches to whittle him down at a distance.

【ROCKET ON】

With Rocket activated, I aimed it directly at Orion before launching myself at him to try and carry him out of the school. Unbeknownst to me, Orion had already prepared a counter to this move.

Orion quickly side-stepped out of the way before grabbing onto my leg, now becoming an unwelcome passenger on my flight. The surprising reversal caused me to lose focus and balance, causing us to crash through the school's walls and floors as Orion continued to mess with my flight.

"Why… won't you… let… go…!" I yelled out in anger while I tried kicking him off with my other free leg. No matter how much I kicked him, however, Orion refused to let go. At this point, we had probably done more destruction to the school than the Spacequake had caused, given all the holes we created in the walls and floors by ramming through them.

Eventually, Orion managed to regroup himself, as he began to sway my body around, which just made everything even worse. After crashing through one final wall, the two of us separated and tumbled onto the floor.

Fighting through the dizzying sensation and pain that stemmed from taking the brunt of the damage caused by ramming through so many walls, I deactivated Rocket while my senses came back to me. It seemed we were in one of the school hallways, but I could see Orion already back on his feet, towering over me.

Once the ringing in my ears dissipated, I could hear the continuous sound of gunfire in the distance. Adrenaline suddenly spiked in my body. Who was shooting? And at what?

"That energy… I can feel it again!" Orion's booming voice echoed in the halls. This threw me off a bit, I never knew it could speak! Without any hesitation, Orion charged off in the direction of the gunfire.

"G-Get back here!" I cried out as I rose to my feet and chased him through the hallways. The gunfire got louder and louder as I followed Orion. Eventually, he entered a classroom on his right.

Looking at the classroom, I quickly noticed something. The tag for the classroom was 2 - 4. This wasn't any old classroom, this was mine!

I slid as I came to a stop in front of the entrance, only to see something truly bizarre.

"W-Who in the world are you?!" I could hear someone scream out as the rain of bullets suddenly subsided. Inside the mostly destroyed classroom was Orion, but he wasn't alone. Two other people facing off near the far end of the room, akin to a wild-west showdown.

One of them was the girl with purple armor again, holding her giant broadsword. Her body radiated a purple aura while her eyes were filled with anger and bloodlust. The other was one of those exosuit people, wielding her laser blade.

Hold up, I recognize that person's hair! The two of them turned to face Orion, who had rudely interrupted their showdown.

"Tobiichi?!" I cried out in shock the moment I saw her face. What on earth was she doing here? My thoughts were cut short as I heard the sound of whimpering and stammering coming from my left. I looked down, only to see Shido, trembling greatly as he sat on the floor, completely stunned.

"Itsuka?! Are you ok?!" I questioned, though mainly out of relief. He looked generally messy and unkept, with dust and rubble covering his uniform, but otherwise, I couldn't see any major injuries or blood. He turned towards me and made a confused sound.

My attention snapped back to Orion, who was looking directly at the purple-armored girl. Orion didn't even seem to recognize Origami's existence, despite standing in between Orion and the girl.

"Get out of here!" I yelled out before trying to grab Orion by the collar and drag him out of the room, but to my surprise, he wouldn't move. Hell, he wouldn't even budge. It was like he suddenly gained two tons.

Orion turned around and I saw his fierce red eyes peer straight into my own eyes. It was then I registered a familiar-looking purple aura surrounding his body.

He suddenly grabbed me by the neck with a strength unseen before and lifted me off my feet. Orion wound his right arm before punching me square in the stomach. With a resounding impact, I felt myself fly backward and break through the wall of the hallway. I fell several stories before landing violently on the ground.

He went for the stomach again… why…?

---

Third Person POV

So far, Shido's day couldn't have gotten worse.

Even though he knew it was risky, he managed to talk with the spirit codenamed Princess, whom he named Tohka. It was terrifying at first, nearly having his head blown off, but despite it all, Shido couldn't forget the sad expression that Tohka had on her face.

After some courage (and "guidance" from Fraxinus), he managed to talk to Tohka without her trying to kill him. That was good! That was progress.

Then the AST suddenly started shooting. But Shido stood his ground even with the threat of being pelted by bullets. A deep sadness still lingered in this girl's heart. He wouldn't just abandon her, and he wouldn't let her leave him either.

And so, they talked. Protected by the barrier Tohka put up, he learned more about Tohka. With each passing tragic revelation, his heart ached more and more.

She was born suddenly with no explanation of who she was. Constantly being pulled into this world countless times not of her own volition. Attacked and endlessly pursued by the AST. With a life filled with nothing but violence, was it any wonder why she felt so broken and jaded toward humanity?

After their conversation, Shido asked Tohka to go on a date, albeit much to his embarrassment. It wasn't helped by the goading of the Fraxinus crew. Even if he was forced into this situation, he earnestly asked her out on a date, hoping to save her from the sadness that consumed her for all of her life.

And then Origami appeared out of nowhere and clashed with Tohka. Seconds later, another person entered the room from the door behind them. Unlike before, this being wasn't human in appearance at all. It was something like a monstrous red hulk. Shido's mind instinctively flashed back to the hazy outline of something red he saw yesterday flying in the sky with that rocket man.

Shido immediately fell onto his back in panic.

"W-Who in the world are you!" Shido cried out reflexively. Suddenly, his attention noticed another figure standing in the doorway. It was the white rocket man he saw distantly in the sky over a week ago, but he could see the armor in finer detail now.

The white armored man suddenly cried out Origami's name before suddenly shouting out Shido's name in relief.

Huh? How does he know Origami and me?

Before Shido could ask who the stranger was, the white armored figure attempted to grab the red monster's collar, only to be picked up and punched so hard he was sent flying out of the building.

Shido couldn't help but just sit there in shock. His mind only returned to reality when Kotori's commands came through his earpiece.

"[Shido! You have to withdraw, now!]" Kotori demanded through the intercom. It was easy for her to say. She wasn't currently stuck in the middle of a three-way free-for-all that emerged between Tohka, Origami, and the red monster.

Tohka attacked Origami, Origami attacked back, and the red monster responded by trying to attack them both.

"I won't forgive those that get in the way of my goal." Origami coldly stated.

"...another foolish being who tries to end my life?" Tohka callously muttered out. Shido's heart sank a little when he heard Tohka's voice so devoid of the hope he heard in her voice when they were talking.

The battle raged on, with Tohka and Origami using their weapons while the red monster simply used his massive bulk and weight to throw punches. As time passed, Shido noticed something. Not only did Tohka have a purple aura enveloping her body, but so did the red monster.

The purple aura around the monster grew darker and more saturated in color as time passed by. As it did, Shido could feel the force behind each punch become stronger and faster. Origami dodged them while Tohka countered with her broadsword. It became rapidly apparent to all three that the power of this beast was growing with every passing second.

Shido sat in fear, his legs not even responding to his mind's demands to get up and run. Suddenly, the sound of an announcement rang out.

【ROCKET ON】

Second later, the white armored man came flying back in through the hole that was created when he was punched out of the building. Using the rocket in his right arm, he delivered a solid punch to the red monster, causing it to stagger back a little. It seemed his reappearance not only shocked the red monster but also Origami and Tohka, who briefly turned their attention to the white armored man.

"Ok… now you've pissed me off…" Shido heard the man inside exhaustedly pant out. The monster angrily growled back, as if annoyed by the reemergence of the white armored man. The red beast's body began to glow a bright blue color with a purple outline surrounding it.

The monster's body continued to glow brighter and brighter, causing everyone nearby to back away slightly. Eventually, the light became as blinding as the sun.

It was at this point a voice rang out amid the confusion.

"Everyone! GET AWAY!" The white armored man desperately warned. Shido turned to look at the man, only to see the man coming straight toward him. The armored man grabbed Shido before using the rocket in his right hand to take off from the scene.

"Ehh?!" Shido cried out in shock, though his protests fell on deaf ears. What followed felt like an eternity passing with each second. With bated breath, he watched Origami, Tohka, and the people in the sky retreat as the light became brighter and brighter.

And then, as if it had reached its apex…

KABOOM!

The blinding light suddenly became the epicenter of a massive explosion. Shido could feel the shockwave pass through his very soul. Even though they were quite a distance away, the shockwave was still strong enough to knock the two away with tremendous force, overpowering the rocket's thrust and sending them flying through the air.

Even with the chaos of falling through the air, Shido felt the armored man hold onto his body for dear life. The ground grew closer and closer. Shido braced himself for the inevitable impact, but he suddenly felt their positioning rotating. The armored man was now underneath him, acting as a cushion.

Seconds later, they finally impacted into the ground, with the armored man finally letting go, causing the two to separate as they tumbled across the ground.

---

Shido slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he was out for. Judging by how it was still dusk out, maybe only a couple of minutes?

His body ached, but for the most part, he was fine. Shido slowly got up and dusted himself off. He could see the white armored man, lying on the ground a couple of meters away from him.

"A-Are you ok?!" Shido cried out. His instincts to help the person right in front of him kicked into overdrive at this point. Sure, he worried about Origami and Tohka, but right now, there was someone in front of him who needed help.

He staggered over to the white armored man and started shaking his body. The only response from the man was groans. Shido felt at a loss. He didn't know what to do! He wasn't some doctor or medical professional! He was just a teenager! As Shido panicked in his mind, the white armored man spoke up.

"...are you… ok…?" He heard the person weakly cry out.

"Yea, I'm ok, but you—!" Shido responded, but before he could continue, the armored man interrupted him.

"...good… that's a relief…" The white armored man wearily got out before suddenly going limp. Shido's breath stopped. Was he… was he dead…? Shido quickly laid his ear against the man's chest. He could hear a heartbeat. It seems he had just fallen unconscious from the injuries he had sustained.

As Shido lifted his head, a loud sound suddenly played from the device on his waist before the armor brightly dematerialized around the person's body. Once the light subsided, Shido opened his eyes only to see the person underneath the armor. Once again, it was another revelation to add to the chaos that his life had been for the past month.

"S-Seung?!" Shido confusedly cried out. Right in front of him was Asher Seung, another one of his classmates. Though he hadn't spoken to the boy, he managed to recognize him due to how close his seat was to his own.

Shido couldn't even begin processing this information in his mind. It wasn't until the sound of an approaching engine he broke out of his trance.

"Asher! Are you ok?!" The rider cried out as he took off his helmet. As if it was part of God's script, Shido recognized him as well. It was Kengo Utahoshi, the "Infirmary Genius" dubbed by other students. Shido stared at him in shock as Kengo got off his motorcycle and ran to inspect Asher's body.

---

Third Person POV

Kengo awoke to the sound of an alarm ringing in Rabbit Hutch. He knew that the sleep he got wasn't sufficient enough, but it was enough to at least carry him through the rest of the evening.

He quickly made his way to the computer lab where the alarm was originating from. He opened the black case and turned on its monitor. What he saw was one of his worst fears coming to fruition.

Asher in Fourze lay unconscious with another student not far from his body. Asher's body was eerily still.

"Shit!" Kengo cried out with a mixture of fear and regret. He didn't waste any time. He grabbed the case and headed out of Rabbit Hutch. Since the footage came from Burgermeal, he was able to use the data to find where exactly the footage was being filmed.

With time being of the essence, Kengo quickly put on his helmet and got on his motorcycle. As he drove towards Burgermeal's location, one single thought repeated in Kengo's head.

"This should've never happened to you…"

---

Third Person POV

"H-hey… aren't you…?" Shido nervously asked, though Kengo just completely ignored him.

Kengo examined Asher's body, though after a while he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god, he's just unconscious…" Kengo stated. All of a sudden, Kengo looked down at his feet. Burgermeal made a beeping noise upon being detected. Despite the fall, Burgermeal managed to come back online shortly after and alert Kengo to Asher's position after the battle ended.

Shido only watched on in complete disbelief as Kengo grabbed the oddly multi-colored rover and watched it transform into a burger?!

Kengo took the Astroswitch out of the rover and proceeded to open his black briefcase. Putting the switch into one of the slots, Kengo tapped on the display and played back the footage that had been recorded by Burgermeal.

"I see… so that's what's going on." Kengo mused to himself as he watched the footage. After a while, he closed the briefcase and put the now burger Burgermeal into his pocket.

"So then, Itsuka. What are you doing here?" Kengo spoke, finally having acknowledged his existence.

"Eh? Well.. that's a bit…" Shido nervously mumbled. Of course, he couldn't just talk about the Spirits! Ratatoskr, though more accurately Kotori, drilled into his head that everything related to the Spirits and the organization must be kept top secret. No one could know about either unless they had gotten direct permission from a higher-up, AKA Kotori.

"In any case! What about you? What are you doing here, Utahoshi?" Shido responded, trying to avoid the conversation.

"That's not for you to know." Kengo curtly replied.

"But you know something about this, don't you? About Seung's weird armor and that red monster I saw, right?" Shido questioned.

"The same could be said about you." Kengo calmly looked Shido directly in the eyes. "You know more about that girl in purple armor and what she is, right?" Shido could only start sweating at this revelation.

Shido tried to speak, but could only stammer awkwardly. What was he supposed to even say? Admit everything? Or play stupid?

It was during this crisis that Kotori's voice piped up through the earpiece.

"[My my, this has gotten complicated real fast, hasn't it?]" Kotori smugly stated.

"Kotori, you're not helping!" Shido responded though he realized a bit too late that he had spoken that part out a bit too loud.

"...who are you talking to?" Kengo asked. Shido felt the pressure piling up.

"[Don't worry Shido, we're coming down to assist you.]" Kotori replied in a calm and mature tone, fitting for a leader.

"But… is this really ok?" Shido worriedly asked.

"[Stop worrying so much! It's going to be fine.]" Kotori reassured. As Kengo stared at Shido in total confusion, Shido could hear the familiar sound of someone being teleported down nearby. He looked over, to see Kotori with Reine accompanying her, wearing their Ratatoskr uniforms.

"Murasame-sensei?" Kengo questioned, his composure remaining calm.

"I thought it would be better if we made an introduction down here first, rather than up there." Kotori calmly stated as the two walked up to them. "We'll discuss and exchange information up in Fraxinus."

"Kotori! You're bringing him up?" Shido cried out, knowing how big of a secret Ratatoskr's airship was.

"Shut up! Don't go doubting the commander's decision!" Kotori shut Shido down instantly.

"Fraxinus? Commander? What are you two talking about?" Kengo carefully asked.

"Everything will be explained later. For now, hang on to him." Kotori motioned to Asher's unconscious body. "We'll beam everyone up shortly. You best prepare yourself." Kotori warned. Kengo looked at Kotori with suspicion, but Shido looked over to Kengo and got closer to him.

"...you should do what she says." Shido quietly told Kengo. Kengo hesitated a little before acquiescing and going over to where Asher was lying. The moment Kengo grabbed Asher's body, Shido felt the familiar sensation of his body becoming buoyant as a blue field formed around the five of them.

And with that, everything suddenly went white.

---

Author's Note:

Chapter 2 is now done! The two IPs are now slowly merging and meeting.

It might as well be any good time to delve deeper into the behind-the-scenes of this fic. For example, why Fourze? Well, it's relatively simple. Outside of having a similar setting to Date a Live (high school), Fourze has a relatively small amount of Riders exclusive to the series. Additionally, it has a relatively simple way to integrate the powers into the Date a Live universe without coming off too obtrusive.

I wanted to mainly focus on the Date a Live side of things rather than the Kamen Rider side of things, which may sound disappointing to some people. This is why I avoided choosing seasons like Zero-One, Revice, Zi-O, or other seasons where technology is the source of the Rider's powers due to those seasons having a very large cast that I would have to tie into the Date a Live mythos.

Next up, how much will this fanfic deviate from canon? Well, not much. There will be some elements that change, but I don't think major events will change that drastically. If you know how Date a Live goes, then you'll probably know what's coming up. Still, that doesn't mean the finer details won't be changed. Whether this makes or breaks this fanfiction is up to you.

Guess the last thing I want to touch on is things such as Japanese terms or honorifics. I'll be upfront, I know barely anything about the Japanese language. I do not feel confident nor bothered enough to find out how each character refers to each other and with what honorifics. That's why unless it's super specific (IE: -sensei or -sama), I will not be including honorifics, such as -san, -kun, -tan, etc. However, I will still keep the general concept of referring to people by their family name vs. given names. IE: Calling someone by their family name is more polite vs. given names which either indicate a more casual or close relationship.

Finally, time for the progress report. Currently, Chapter 4 is practically done, while Chapter 5 is about 20% done. Hopefully, I'll be able to consistently upload every two weeks, but we'll see.

Welp, that's everything I wanted to share. Thank you for reading and I'll see you next chapter.