Upon looking at the sky, Shido Itsuka fastened his coat on instinct. The gray, cloudy sky and the fact steam could be visibly seen by Shido every time he took a breath was proof that maybe he should've taken an extended leave from school. December 1st. The start of the winter season until February. As he was walking and noting the slight branch shakes from the trees every time there was even a slight breeze, Shido even considered using Camael to warm himself up.

What was not protected, and gnawing on the back of his mind, were his hands, which he predicted could practically fall off at any second due to how numb they were. He raised them up to his mouth and breathed on them. Instead, the breath moisture just made it worse as the boy just sighed in defeat. "I should've just brought some gloves or something..."

His getup was not built for the weather, being his normal uniform, only with a coat attached onto it. Clearly, judging by Shido's constant complaining, the coat would have a stern talking-to once they got home. Can't go home now, though. He was closer to the school than he was to home, and he would run the risk of being late if he turned back now.

"Mmm... Are you cold, Shido?"

Shido turned to Tohka, the breeze flowing her hair majestically as her white pupils bore into Shido's whole persona. Tohka's outfit was much better suited for winter, and she had the added perk of actually remembering to bring gloves. That, and probably Spirit immunity or something.

Regardless, Shido's complaints weren't exactly all inner monologues. "Yeah. I underestimated winter. I'll bring warmer clothes on further days from now on."

"Oh, is that so? Well, you can use my gloves instead!"

"T-then you'd end up as the cold one..." Shido didn't want to test out the 'Spirit Immunity' thing just yet.

"But then you'd end up catching a cold! You might end up sick like Mario is!"

"That WOULD be unfortunate, but Mario's only 'sick' because he used Spirit power despite not having any spiritual energy inside him." Shido quickly wrapped up as footsteps crunched behind them, as the duo turned to see ginger twins of identical faces.

"Kahaha! Looks like the fools are still here!"

"Passing: You will not stop Yuzuru and Kaguya."

The Yamai twins had caught up to Shido and Tohka, the former two also wearing warm clothing. In reality, Shido was the strange one for being so underprepared. Kaguya, being ever the bold one (despite her gloves being fingerless), stepped ahead of the original duo. "If you don't mind us, we'll be going ahead! Wait - what are you two even doing, going all slow like that? We came out WAAAAY later!"

Shido sighed, still noticing his breath - praying today could get warmer. "Making sure I don't break anything and just being distracted by Mario's health."

"Assurance: Mario is fine. The people from his world are nursing him in the Spirit Mansion."

Shido breathed a sigh of relief, unconsciously reaching his hands and burying them in Tohka's scarf. "Wish him all the best."

"Me too! But we must depart to the promised neverland!" Kaguya did a comical jump and ran forward.

"Part: The children of the wind are never late." Yuzuru departed, the Yamai heading straight for the school.

"Hah... Oh!" Shido put his hands together, thinking of an idea. "Oi, Tohka, got the perfect plan for me to stay warm!"

"Yeah?"

"RUN!" Shido suddenly darted forward, no longer worried about his safety. Tohka gasped in amazement and ran after him toward the school.

Various memories are playing out in his head...

"Mario, help!" Pauline cried out, standing on top of a girder way up high in the sky, Mario breathing heavily as he jumped over Donkey Kong's barrels.

"Wahahaha! Welcome to WARIO castle! Due to my hostile takeover, it seems you are gonna get KICKED OUT!" Wario bellowed.

"Uweeeh- gaa gaa..." Baby Mario gurgled, cradling Yoshi from saving him from a bubble for the upteenth time.

"Thank you, Mario! We have to do something special for you." Peach turned alongside her two Toad companions after having kissed Mario on the nose.

"Lookie here, Mario!" Bowser presented a giant jar full of Sprixie Princesses. "NEW princesses to kidnap! If you aren't GREEDY, you'll give up on THIS adventure! Gwahaha!"

Luigi scowled at Dimentio. "Leave this one to me, bro! You've got worlds to save!"

And as Mario looked down at his own body in some sort of nameless void...

What about these seven characters (six plus himself) seemed so... familiar to him?

Mario's consciousness slowly came back towards him.

Despite using Sandalphon, the awakening was more akin to waking up from a nice 8-hour sleep compared to a hangover like he'd come to expect. He stretched his limbs - only to reel back from the pain. Yep, there it was. THAT'S what he was expecting.

"Oh, Mario!" He heard a feminine voice cry out. He turned, his conscious, half-focused eyes still a blur, but he could still make out the unmistakable blonde crown-wearing pink-dressed love of his life.

"Ah, Princess..." Mario yawned, his eyes now finally focused. "It's-a-me, Mario. Did ya miss me?"

"I did. When you suddenly fainted from using... that... I thought you'd never come back..." Peach planted her face on Mario's quilt, the plumber's body still wrapped in it.

"Hey, I've-a come back from worse." He giggled, turning to his other side and almost jumping from fear to see Kamek's 1000-yard stare piercing into Mario's soul. The only reason he didn't jump was from the prior-mentioned pain. "EYAH!"

"I wouldn't go jumping for joy just yet. Your body is slowly healing. Very slowly."

"Oh, get it over with, Kamek." Mario sighed. "I'm-a just fine. So, what are you-a gonna do? Lecture us about what I just-a did?"

"Sure will." Kamek did not take lightly to any jokes. "What you did, Mario, was use an Angel despite not having the appropriate energy source to do so. Essentially, you have been doing what Shido Itsuka has been doing all this time. Use of Angels without the proper requirements can cause immense fatigue and pain."

"Wait, he just-a sealed Origami!" Mario's eyes shrunk upon learning this. "That makes-a SEVEN sources of pain!" He slowly tried to get up, only for Kamek to shut him up.

"You are not going ANYWHERE."

"Watch-a-me!" Mario growled, proceeding to jump, frontflip, and land on his feet-

only to stumble and fall down onto the ground, Kamek not surprised in the slightest. "Like I said, you're not going anywhere. I'm compassionate, not stupid."

"Mario..." Peach put her hands together as Kamek dragged Mario back into bed. "Perhaps Kamek is right. You need to rest. Plus, everything's simmered down. There's no reason to fight."

"No... They need-a me..." Mario panted.

Kamek spat. "...always fearless to the end. Stubborn, too."

Peach also sighed. "That IS the man I fell in love with, after all. Come on, Kamek..." Peach stood up. "We have to tell Luigi that Mario's alive and well, at least."

"Very well. But you're breaking the news to him, not me." Kamek shuffled out of the room, with Peach following behind.

"..."

Kotori clicked her pen, as the metallic walls of Fraxinus and Kotori's fiery red stare did not help Luigi's nerves, the cowardly plumber flinching every time Kotori reached to write something down on her notebook.

"So." Kotori stared up, causing Luigi to yelp. "Origami had become Devil thanks to Kurumi's Angel, Zafkiel. However, beforeso, Origami had become a Spirit by means of Phantom, if I had to guess. And from YOUR description-"

"I did the best I could to describe her!" Luigi defended.

Kotori continued. "Phantom is a noisy mess, even now. Nothing had changed from when she came in contact with me. However, Origami's attacks and Mario's persistence had peeled off the disguise, if only for a little bit. The voice, at the very least, is that of a young girl's. Something about having a goal in mind..." Kotori sighed, slumping in Fraxinus' arm chair and breathed an exhausted sigh. "Uuuuugh. Just who exactly is Phantom..."

"I-I don't know..." Luigi scratched his chin awkwardly. "I didn't expect this to be some sort of murder mystery... Phantom is-"

Luigi was interrupted when the door to the room knocked, indicating someone wanted in. Kotori waved her hand dismissively. "Hai, yes, who is it?"

"It's me."

"Ah, is that so? Come in." Kotori gave approval, and the door opened to reveal a sleepy grey-hair woman entering the room. Reine Murasame. "What's up, Reine?"

"I was planning on contacting you through a terminal." Reine began. "But I see you're on site today?"

"Ah, yeah..."

"It's just that... I am a little worried about something."

"Worried?"

Reine pulled out her portable tablet and turned it on, and then flipped it so Kotori could see the screen. "This is the graph for everyone's spiritual energy."

Kotori squinted at the screen, then reeled back once she saw one bar in the graph be abnormally high. "What the - no, I took account of everyone's mental stability just the other day, and it was fine! Has it... Has it been Origami?!"

"No."

"Tohka? Yoshino? Don't you dare say it's me!"

"No, you're wrong, this graph is..."

Then Reine blatently dropped the name.

Luigi jumped in fright, as he normally would, or any normal PERSON would. And why would he? The blank state, and the most potential to be dangerous, even without Luigi's Chaos Factor.

"Shido's?!" Luigi yelped.

"Shido... Oi, Shido!" Tonomachi snapped his finger. "Earth to Shido!"

"Uuuuu..." Shido blinked, shaking his head to force himself awake. "Yo, Tonomachi... What were you sayin'...?"

"Don't say that to me! It's your turn for the hand dynomometer test!"

"Ah..."

Gym class had everyone staring at Shido in concern. Just a few hours after school began, Shido was completely out of it, only seeming to just barely be awake. Shido slowly stumbled and grabbed the hand dynomometer.

The teacher looked closely at their clipboard. "43 kilos the average for the male high school student, and Yoshikawa has the highest record of 75 kilo. Can you cross it...?"

As the teacher joked, Shido looked at Yoshikawa in a daze, the Judo club member making a wry smile.

Shido looked back at the object in his hand. "Well, just so you know... I was perfectly fine being average from the start..." He said as he gave the hand dynomometer a light squeeze.

Pang!

Something hit Shido's cheek.

He blinked and noticed a spring had fallen to the ground, as the strength measuring device had been completely crushed.

"I-Itsuka, that's impossible!" Tonomachi gawked.

Handball throwing was the next gym subject.

"Ha!" A student grunted, getting 24 meters.

"HAAH!" Yoshikawa shouted, getting 30 meters.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Tonomachi screamed, getting penalized because he stepped over the line.

"Uuuuuuu..." Shido groaned, weakly throwing the handball...

As the ball proceeded to slice through the air and into the heavens themselves, piercing the clouds...

The girls on the other side of the field looked at him in shock.

"I-Itsuka, that's impossible!" Ai gawked.

And finally, track and field. The student raised down their hand, as Tohka and Origami both launched off the pedestal to try and win against the other.

"Uuugh! Origami! I won't let you win! I won't let you get 1 second below me!" Tohka stared angrily at Origami. As she had the fire in her eyes, she simmered down as she realized - she was still a Spirit. If she were to unleash her inhuman prowess, that would certainly attract unwanted attention...

But just as she thought Origami would pass her, a much FASTER person whizzed past her instead.

Tohka only realized it after the announcer called.

"I-Itsuka's time, 4.38 seconds..." Ai grimaced.

"But..." Mai pressed against Ai, looking at the timer. "Isn't the WORLD RECORD 5.56 seconds?! And not to mention he lagged behind at the start...!"

Mii finished the trio's thoughts. "This is getting so lame...!"

Shido blankly looked to all the people staring at shock in him. "Huuuh? What's wrong, guys... What are you all-"

Shido promptly fainted.

"SHIDO!" Tohka and Origami shouted, both running faster with no concern for the goal anymore, rushing to Shido's aid.

"Mmmgh..."

Shido opened his eyes to a vaguely familiar school ceiling. His blurry eyes seeing doubles of everything, but he could still make out the smaller details. This seemed to be the school infirmary, as Shido held a palm to his head, immediately realizing it was dripping with sweat. "...what's... going on with me...?"

Even his consciousness couldn't reach a conclusion, but what he DID know was destroy a highly durable hand thingy and toss a ball with a weak throw that turned it into a comet. Feats impossible even if he was trying his absolute best - and yet he broke every record imaginable in a half dizzy state. This could only mean one conclusion. He stared at his sweaty palm in realization.

"Spirit power... but nobody's in danger..." He was able to think that much, at least. Shido reeled back and sneezed. "Achooo!" Which caused a huge typhoon to whirlwind every piece of equipment and even the beds around in a circle, knocking Shido down to the floor. "Uuuurgh..." He fell down unconscious yet again.

"Thank you all for coming." Kotori set her papers down in a round table. The table was occupied by all the other Spirits (except Miku, who was absent due to being a long distance), who looked at Kotori with a concern. "Let me get right to business. Shido is unwell due to all the Spiritual power built inside him from all the sealing he's been doing."

"Shido..." Tohka fidgeted her hands on the table. "Did Mario spread something...?"

"No. Mario exhausted himself by using an Angel. Shido's case is a result of your guys' Angels and Spirit power acting up. At first I thought this was the work of Kerubiel, but from Luigi's account, the Megabug has taken hold of Kerubiel, and with this so-called 'Mayuri' power, has copied Kurumi's Zafkiel."

Natsumi gripped her head, clearly stressed about the situation. "Okay, so what do we do now...?"

"I'm not sure, I'm hoping-"

"Darliiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!" Someone called out, as the door opened, and Kotori was suddenly wrapped in a hug by Miku.

"M-Miku?!" Kotori spouted, but no matter how much she struggled, Miku's grip was deathly tight, rubbing her cheeks.

"Are you okay, darling?!" Miku lamented, still having her eyes closed. "I could not stand still when I'd heard you had collapsed, it's your Miku who rented a helicopter and came back!"

"Oi-calm down...-"

"Aah, how pitiful, darling! You've turned this small, and everything's so squishy! Now that I think about it, your skin is so smooth that it feels like you are Kotori...!"

"It's not 'like', because I am Kotori!"

After Kotori shouted, Miku finally opened her eyes wide. "Oh, Kotori, what are you doing in my arms? Do you like to get pampered?"

"You totally did that on purpose! You just missed the briefing!" Kotori shoved Miku aside. "We're working on a way to save him."

Tohka perked up. "There's a way to save Shido...?"

"There is. We have to widen our paths again, so he doesn't take too much excess energy."

"Meaning...?"

Kotori sighed. "We have to kiss him again."

Natsumi groaned. "But that's going to be tough - especially with someone who's as unreasonably strong as him!"

Just then, the doors opened, as Bowser Jr. ran through the doors in a panic. "Bad news, peewees! Your prisoner has escaped!"

Shido absentmindedly walked through the streets of the city, somehow not fainting along the way. "Mmm... What was I doing...?" He looked down at himself, still in his simple Raizen High uniform, but yet despite the winter chill, Shido was feeling warmer than ever.

And...

Three girls had taken notice.

"Huh? Is that Itsuka? Did he head home early for today?"

"He's acting all energetic, despite not having any winter clothing on!"

"That's so lame!"

"Muh...?" Shido turned his head toward the trio of Ai, Mai and Mii.

"What was up with earlier?" Ai marched closer, with Mai and Mii following behind. "With those physical tests and all?"

As the three talked to him, it was all a blur of unrecognizable voices to him. The main point were that these three were women, and therefore, they must fall in love with him. "...you know, Ai, Mai, Mii... Now that I take a closer look, you're really all so cute..."

"Ehhhh?!" All three screeched.

"Ai, thanks for always taking care of Tohka! But truth be told, I look over her shoulders and fall in love with you too!"
"Mai, you always say you're the plainest one, but that's not true! You can be your own character, and your own special one!"
"Mii, you always seem like the mysterious type, limiting your vocabulary to three words. But I was able to peer past that mask, and I want you to tell me everything!"

The three gawked with huge blushes on their faces. Shido snapped his fingers as if it were the natural thing to do, as Zadkiel's powers made the cold air get even colder, water particles freezing in the air, as Shido made crystals out of them, giving them to the three girls. "Here you go, my princesses." He smiled.

"Uwah? What-" Ai stammered.

"Cold! It's real?!" Mai shivered.

"It's... so lame!" Mii shouted.

The three shouted as they started to bolt.

Ai pointed as she ran. "We'll remember this, Itsuka!"

Then Mai with her retort. "I don't know what you said, but it's so snobby!"

Then finally, Mii. "You're so lame!"

"Hmhmhm. I hope you do remember..." Shido smiled as he turned around to see his next target - a pale blonde woman with purple eyes. Now that he thought about it -

The girl had noticed Shido too, scowling. "Itsuka... Shido."

"Ellen! I've yearned to meet you!" Shido stepped forward and cusped Ellen's hand with two of his own.

"...Huh?"

"I get it - You are a DEM Wizard, and I'm with Ratatoskr, we are incompatible. I know that. You've even tried to kill me multiple times - but there's no rule saying that we can't understand each other, even though we are enemies!"

Ellen lowered her eyes. "What the hell are you saying?"

"Ever since the last time I've met you, Ellen, I couldn't get you out of my head. Please, Ellen, come to Ratatoskr with me."

"You think this prank is going to work? I'll show you!" Ellen shouted, activating her Territory, blowing a hole in the ground with a force equal enough to split apart a human. But even then - Shido remained completely motionless, staring at her with his appealing eyes.

"Wha-"

"Hey now, Ellen, don't play hard to get..."

"Then I'll use...!" Ellen tossed her winter cap at Shido's face to blind him to kick him. However, Shido dodged back at light speed, causing Ellen to stumble in the air. Just as quickly, Shido held out his arms, catching Ellen in a princess carry.

Moments passed before Ellen realized what was going on, as she blushed madly. Shido gently set her down and put on her winter cap for her. "I'll leave things here for today. I do not wish to force things upon an unwilling girl. May our paths cross again, Ellen..." Shido still had that gentle smile, as he took a nonchalant exit.

"Guuuh.. You...!" Ellen gawked. "I'll never forget this humiliation!" She cried out, escaping the public eye.

Shido twirled around. "Everyone's power is swirling up inside me - I feel so good..."

"Shido!" Someone cried out, as Shido turned, still with a dazed expression.

"Yo, Tohka. Oh, you're all here. Is there something I can do for all of you?"

Kotori put her hands on her hip. "I'm glad you asked. We're here to save you."

"Save me...?" Shido leaned closer. "Oh, I see, you want to kiss me like I did all of you, huh? Alright, I get it. Although losing these powers would be a shame." Shido snapped his fingers, as suddenly his figure transformed, using Haniel to transform into Shiori.

"Kyaaaa!" Miku screamed. "Shiori is back, now I've GOT to get in on this!"

Shiori shrugged, winking. "I can do all sorts of this, and these are very real, and bigger than poor little Kotori's...! Although you can still grow up, my darling sister!"

"WHAT is bigger than mine?!" Kotori spat.

Shiori poofed, leaving Shido again. "But I have conditions of my own. You usually have to fall for me, but I wanna put a spin on it. So, it's really simple. Make me swoon, and fall for you! Truth be told, I've already liked all of you, so asking you to make me fall for you is a little random. But go about it as you will. I'm counting on you all, okay?" Shido winked and shot finger guns at them.

Origami thought for a second.

Kotori folded her arms. "Fine. We'll play by your rules. And still win."

"I'm honored." Shido smirked, as he used Raphael to bend the wind and make himself float upwards.

"Guah-!" Kaguya coughed. "He's totally ripping off our thing!"

"Envy: This shouldn't be possible!" Yuzuru cried out.

"Let me know when you're ready." Shido called out from above. "Now then, shall we begin our date?" He departed, leaving behind a comet-like trail.

"Our time limit is midnight." Origami assumed. "That's how this usually goes. Midnight is the standard time limit."

"We'll have to account for absolutely everything." Kotori also concluded. "No DEM, no AST, no nothing. And with Mario unable to do anything, we'll have to do this quickly."

Tohka squinted, her eyes watering in the dazzling sunlight. "Shido..."