Down These Mean Streets

Good spirits...

As Origami waited for Hermit's arrival above the empty streets of Tengu City, filled by the omnipresent sound of heavy rain, the well-meaning but misguided words of her beloved Shidou played through her mind.

She loved him, she really did, but he didn't understand a thing about what the AST did. She'd heard tales from fellow service members about how difficult it could be when their civilian partners learned about what they did. They always thought there had to be another way, that hunting and killing spirits was just too cruel.

It was understandable, of course. Spirits looked like humans, and could even act like them. It was natural, or at least moral, to hesitate to kill in those circumstances.

But the world did not allow for such gentle convictions.

The decision to exterminate all spirits had not been an easy one. It had taken the governments of the world years to come to that terrible conclusion, but what other choice did they have?

Spirits were unnatural, unreasonable creatures that existed outside the bounds of normal reality. Not only did they produce spacequakes, annihilating everything in their wake, but they went hysterical and ran wild, leaving nothing but destruction in their path.

Maybe not all spirits were like that, but enough were that the only rational response was to treat them as threats until proven otherwise.

That was the decision the world had come to, that the AST had sworn to uphold, and that Origami would never waver on.

Her heart sufficiently hardened, Origami perked up at the spirit values displayed in her holographic HUD.

They had suddenly climbed past the critical point and were quickly rising — Hermit would arrive any second now.

Sure enough, something like a black hole materialized in the streets below, removing a chunk of reality and replacing it with their target.

Just like that, it was already destroying the very earth beneath it, and if they let it be, the spirit would only destroy more.

In response to that threat, the voice of Captain Kusakabe came on the comms.

"Target confirmed. All personnel, commence attack!"

From all around, Origami's squadron burst forth from the sky, driving Hermit into the open air where they pelted it in a formation carefully crafted to hit the spirit from all directions.

It bobbed and weaved in a desperate attempt to evade their fire, but no matter how it moved, there was always a wizard in position to strike. The AST emptied round after round, striking the spirit's impenetrable force field countless times, until—

Captain Kusakabe landed a direct hit on Hermit's back, straight through its force field and impacting its naked dress directly, sending it crashing to the streets below.

The dress was sturdy enough to take the few rounds, but the fact that it even had to was vindicating.

This was what they were after.

That tiny gap after a spirit's power was depleted and before they left this world, when their impregnable naked dress became pregnable, nothing more than skimpy clothing, and—

When they could finally be killed.

Origami and the others gathered around Hermit as the spirit struggled on all fours on the pavement.

"Now!"

Kusakabe gave the order and not a second later, the sound of automatic gunfire drowned out the rain as the entire squadron emptied their Gatling guns directly onto the spirit.

Ten seconds later, the last of the shelling petered out. Hermit's location had been completely obscured by a black cloud of smoke and debris quickly being dispersed by the rain.

"...Did we get it?"

One of the wizards lowered her firearm while Origami and the others kept their sights trained on their target.

It was far too soon to assume anything, and that cynicism was affirmed moments later.

From the cloud of smoke erupted a great beast. Embedded on its back was a small figure — Hermit — controlling the angel as it emitted a chilling roar that shook the very space around them.

And then, the torrential rain pouring down upon the town came to an abrupt halt.

At first, it seemed as though that were the only effect, but it soon became apparent that far more was going on as a frigid air began to descend upon the land.

It started from the skyscrapers, instantly freezing the moisture in the air onto the buildings, coating them in a thick layer of frost as it steadily crept downward.

"Fall back! All personnel, fall back!"

Kusakabe was the first to react, shouting out a frantic order as the thrusters of her wiring suit sent her flying from the relentless cold. Origami reacted a second later, rocketing herself backwards at speeds which would have been lethal without the preternatural protection of her Combat Realizer. As she did so, strangled cries over the comms brought her attention on two of her squadmates.

In their panic, they had mistakenly flown straight into the airspace above Hermit, receiving the full brunt of the spirit's attack. Their territories had literally frozen over, disappearing beneath a layer of ice as even their forward momentum was frozen, leaving them to fall helplessly to the streets below, where they bounced heavily on the pavement before rolling away.

As she fled, Origami sent a mental command to her CR unit, pulling up the temperature readings of her HUD, and saw that the air had already dropped to well below one hundred and fifty degrees.

All around them, windows shattered in succession from the sheer temperature differential, and it continued until the bone chilling cold fell upon the waterlogged streets, freezing the rainwater into a thin sheet of ice.

In less than a minute, Tengu City had been transformed into an arctic wasteland.

Origami and the others watched on in equal parts awe and horror as the city froze before their very eyes. In her ear, she heard the terrified voices of her fellow wizards.

"Holy shit..."

"It froze the whole damn city!"

"This is... a spirit?"

She knew how powerful they could be, but this was beyond anything she had ever seen, completely changing the landscape in a matter of seconds.

"Keep your wits about you!" Kusakabe roared. "Only the commercial district has been frozen!"

Origami spun around at her captain's shout and found the same downpour that had beset the city for the past half hour. The ice and snow dropped off quickly with distance, returning to rain some ways away.

In their mad dash to escape the freeze, they had ended up with their backs to the rest of the city, which was unaffected by Hermit's attack.

She let loose an irritated breath. In a moment of panic, she'd allowed herself to be deceived by a spirit's power.

"Suzuki! Tomohara!" Kusakabe called down to them. "Status report!"

"W-We're ok-kay!"

"Y-Yeah, j-just... frozen in our f-fucking territories!"

Origami could hear them shivering through the comms, a fact that made her brows furrow.

Their territories should have protected them from any environmental conditions...

But this was more than mere, physical cold. What they were dealing with went beyond physics and into the realm of the ineffable — something that defied the rules of the world by simply existing.

That was what they were fighting, and while they were distracted, Hermit was on the move, taking advantage of their disarray to escape, sliding across the frozen streets like an ice skater.

"Damn it! Hermit is escaping!" Captain Kusakabe took after it. "Get a move on!"

"Roger that!"

Origami and the others took off, ordering their thrusters to fire as they gave chase.

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Tohka was jerked out of a nap in her bedroom by the familiar sounds of explosions.

Swiftly, she crawled over to the window above her bed and pushed the blinds away with a clatter.

Ice frosted the glass and frame, and outside the distant skyscrapers were white, covered in a layer of snow.

"What... is this...?"

She could see her breath as she muttered this and caught sight of just what had awoken her.

In the distance, a giant white rabbit plowed through the frozen streets, AST wizards hot on its tail.

No, not just a rabbit. It was the same one she'd seen yesterday, an angel summoned by that girl.

And if it was that girl, Shidou wouldn't be far behind.

Tohka didn't know how or why, but something deep inside told her so.

Not a moment later, she leapt off her bed and tore through the house and out onto the streets, her heart pounding away inside her chest.

But this time, it wasn't in pain.

At the same time, Shidou was charging toward the heart of the city.

As he sprinted, the rain pouring down around him slowly gave way to snow falling softly on the ground. He rounded a corner and stopped in his tracks.

The streets of Tengu City had transformed into a frigid wasteland. The steady droning of the rain was gone, replaced by the lonely howl of wind carrying flurries of snow.

"What the..."

Had Yoshino done this? Spirits could do something like this?

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of his earpiece crackling to life.

"...dou! ...an you hear... Shidou!"

At that voice, Shidou quickly pressed the device.

"Kotori! I was wondering when this thing would come back online..."

"You and me both. That girl seriously had military-grade jammers..."

"Wait, Origami?"

He knew she was part of the AST, but did that really come with access to that kind of equipment?

"Who else? Anyway, where are you right now? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm outside right now. Is this... Did Yoshino do this?"

"Yes. She's pulling in rainwater from the drains and freezing it. If this goes on, the city's foundations and the shelters themselves will be compromised."

"Compromised? Don't tell me..."

"Everyone's life will be at risk. So we need to hurry. Do you have the puppet."

"Yeah, just tell me where to go to find Yoshino."

On the frigid streets of Tengu City.

Yoshino hid behind the safety of her angel, her head buried into its fur as it ran from the AST.

From atop one of the many evacuated buildings, Shidou watched as she approached, before shouting with everything he had.

"YOSHINOOOOO!"

At her name, the girl came to an abrupt halt.

She'd heard him. Somehow, she'd heard him over the gunfire and artillery, quickly puppeting her angel across the icy street until she'd stopped in front of him.

Seeing her tear-stained face, Shidou put on a reassuring smile.

"Hey, Yoshino. It's been a bit, huh?"

"Sh-Shidou...!"

Yoshino's eyes widened and she pulled her arms free from Zadkiel to wipe her face. As she did so, Shidou caught sight of shimmering threads stretching from her fingers to into the puppet angel. That must have been how she controlled it, but he had more important things to worry about right now.

"Yoshino, I've got something to give back—"

But, just as he was reaching into his pocket, a round of automatic gunfire assaulted Yoshino, pounding away at the supernatural shield surrounding her until it flickered, allowing a stray bullet to pass through and graze her shoulder.

"Wha—!"

Shidou whipped around to see the source of the gunfire — a massive Gatling gun, the ends of its barrels still emitting a dull orange glow.

"Origami!"

She and the rest of wizards encircled Yoshino, every one of them pointing their weapons at her.

"You there!" One of them shouted down at Shidou. "It's dangerous down there! Get the hell out of here!"

As her voice boomed as if from a loudspeaker, the other AST wizards sprayed Yoshino with intermittent gunfire. She screamed as she was knocked back and forth, thrusting her arms back into her angel, which shook to life and let out a terrifying growl.

"Y-Yoshino! Wait!"

He couldn't expect her not to panic right now, but Shidou dreaded what would happen if she did. And as the jaws of her angel began to emit cold light, that dread only intensified.

Tohka, who was in the distance sprinting towards the sounds of fighting, caught sight of that moment.

"Th-That's—!"

The ice girl's angel, gathering energy to fire a powerful blast, and before it — a boy.

"Shidou!"

She didn't know what he was doing there, but she knew he'd never survive a point-blank hit like that.

"Sandalphon!"

Tohka slammed her heel against the asphalt, expecting the earth to shake and tremble as her angel erupted from it.

But nothing of the sort happened, an outcome that wasn't entirely unexpected.

She knew from Reine and the others that her spirit powers had been sealed — an unavoidable price of being able to live with Shidou, free from that monochrome world of fighting and fighting and yet more fighting.

But right now, I need to fight!

"Sandalphon! Sandalphon, Sandalphon, Sandalphon!"

Again and again, Tohka slammed her heel into the ground, until she felt her joints creaking and her throat wearing out.

In order to protect this new life which she had taken for granted until now, she needed her spirit powers.

She didn't care if it meant producing spacequakes again, or being hunted by Origami and the others.

Because right now, all she cared about was protecting Shidou.

And as that single, burning desire consumed her, the world around her gradually falling away, Tohka raised her heel one more time.

"SANDALPHON!"

At that very moment, Shidou stumbled back as he felt the very heat being sucked from the air. There was a reflexive urge to run, but he couldn't imagine how he'd get off the roof in time to escape. In the end, Shidou just threw his arms up uselessly in an instinctive attempt to protect himself.

A second later, there was a great explosion of sound and cold and everything went black.

Moments passed, but Shidou did not feel the shuffling of his mortal coil, whatever that would feel like. Cautiously, he opened his eyes and looked around.

All around him, the ground had been encased in a sheet ice. Belatedly, he realized that he had been knocked back on his ass at some point; he'd probably hit his head then. But, aside from that, he was completely unharmed.

Somehow, he had been protected from Yoshino's out of control blast.

And, as she fled the area, the AST in hot pursuit, Shidou saw just what had protected him.

Before him was a great, stone throne, the hilt of a sword jutting out of it like something from Arthurian legend.

"San... dalphon?"

It had nearly been a month since he'd seen it, and yet Shidou recognized Tohka's angel instantly.

And if Sandalphon was here, then that could only mean—

"Shidou! Are you okay?"

At that voice, Shidou turned instinctively to see her gently landing on the rooftop.

"Tohka..."

He felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of her, and it was just as much from relief as it was anxiety. And, from the look on Tohka's face, it was clear she was feeling similar things as well.

The two stood there awkwardly, waiting for the other to speak as snow quietly fell all around them.

"Tohka, your... clothes..."

Shidou broke the silence first, pointing out her school uniform.

She was still wearing it from yesterday, but the skirt and dress shirt beneath her blazer had been replaced with a sheer fabric seemingly made from light that exposed generous amounts of her hips and cleavage.

It looked like nothing so much as a less exhibitionist version of her naked dress.

"This is... my naked dress?"

Tohka stared down at it, seemingly just as puzzled as Shidou, before shaking her head free of the momentary distraction.

"More importantly, are you okay, Shidou? You're not hurt?"

"Um... no, I'm totally fine... Thanks to you."

The awkward silence resumed.

Damn it, what do I say now!?

He'd been trying to talk to her since yesterday, and now that she was here, suddenly he was tongue-tied.

What could he even say, though? In romance novels, the offending character always got on their hands and knees and groveled in these situations, but after everything he'd done, would Tohka accept that?

While Shidou's thoughts raced endlessly like this, Tohka eventually mustered up the courage to approach him, taking his hands into her own.

"I... don't really know how to say this, Shidou, but... I need to apologize to you."

That knocked him out of his anxious thoughts and got a stupefied look out of him.

"Huh? Apologize? You?"

If anyone here needed to apologize, it was him for philandering with other girls behind her back. What on earth could Tohka possibly have to apologize for?

"Mm-hmm. I completely misunderstood you, Shidou. I thought... such awful things about you..."

"Awful things?"

Tohka nodded deeply.

"I thought... that you would get tired of me... and I thought... that you would... that you would..."

She couldn't even bring herself to say it, she looked so guilty and worried.

In response, Shidou gave the hands holding his a squeeze.

"Tohka... I would never do something like that. I'm so sorry for ever making you think I would."

The dark emotions clouding Tohka's face lessened somewhat and she leaned in.

"Really?"

A nod.

"Yes, really."

"Really, really?"

A laugh.

"Yes, really, really!"

This girl was too much sometimes, but it was something about her that Shidou wouldn't change for the world.

At his laughter, Tohka relaxed and let loose a relieved smile.

"Really, though," he continued. "I thought you were mad at me, for being with another girl."

"Hmm? Why would that make me mad?"

After clearing things up so nicely, it felt like tempting fate to spell out his crime. But for that same reason, Shidou couldn't bring himself to be anything but honest in that moment.

"Well, like... when you ran in on that girl and I earlier today, you looked... really hurt."

"Hurt?" Tohka tilted her head. "I thought I was interrupting you two, so I wanted to give you some time alone. Was I wrong?"

Hearing the honest confusion in her voice, Shidou realized that he'd misunderstood everything. He had to turn around to hide a wry smile at his own stupidity.

Of course.

He'd completely forgotten.

Tohka was originally a spirit, and that meant she knew next to nothing about the human world, doubly so for love and romance. She probably didn't even know what infidelity was, much less why it would be a big deal.

She'd just been afraid of being abandoned. Of being alone once more.

What he'd seen as a second-act breakup had in reality been a third-act misunderstanding.

I should have just been honest from the beginning...

Having realized this, Shidou turned around to face Tohka, who earnestly awaited his response.

Now he knew for certain, though.

Her feelings for him were pure. Without a doubt, they were pure.

But they were not love.

Back then, that realization had hurt. He'd thought it meant that all those moments that had meant so much to him hadn't meant nearly the same thing to her. And, under the influence of that belief, he'd nearly destroyed his relationship with this girl.

But, looking at her now, Shidou didn't know how he could have ever allowed himself to risk losing what he had with such a lovely and genuine person.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Tohka. I was the one being a total idiot."

Behind them, the sound of an explosion drew their attention. They turned to see the AST bombarding Yoshino with magical artillery, her puppet letting out a baleful howl as it retaliated.

From this far away Shidou couldn't make out her expression, but he was sure Yoshino was crying.

"That girl, Yoshino, she's a spirit just like you and... I was trying to save her. I should have told you that from the start." He turned back to face her. "So please, Tohka, can you help me save her?"

At his words, Tohka heard not a trace of deceit in his voice, and she felt a final pang of regret at her earlier foolishness.

Of course, how could I have ever thought otherwise?

This was the boy who had saved her, after all. Someone kind and strong — and, she'd realized, someone who could also be silly.

With no more doubt in her heart, Tohka strode up to her Sandalphon and kicked it over, its shape fold into something like a massive surfboard as it fell.

"Let's go. I can distract Origami and the others while you go after Yoshino."

Shidou hurried over to her side.

"I'm sorry for making you fight again."

That got a warm smile out of her, and she pulled him up onto her angel and into a quick kiss.

"If it's to help you, Shidou, I don't mind at all."

With that, Tohka turned, Shidou wrapping his arms tightly around her waist as she took off after Yoshino.

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"Squad B! Encircle Hermit!"

At Captain Kusakabe's orders, Origami and two other AST wizards broke off from the main group pursuing Hermit, charging forward a full klick before stopping at an intersection. The remaining squadron herded the spirit to their location, where they had already deployed a laser web, stretched out across the street between two buildings.

At the last second, it seemed to realize it had been lured into a trap, but by then the spirit was already tumbling into the net of magical light.

"All personnel — charge!"

As Hermit struggled feebly, Kusakabe gave the orders to strike, the squadron drawing their energy blades.

And as they closed in, Hermit let out a wretched scream, and with it a powerful downdraft which drew in the falling snow at an impossible speed. In mere moments, the spirit and half of the squadron were enshrined within what could only be described as a small-scale blizzard.

Immediately, Origami noticed her gear icing over, and nearly as immediately shot back, out of the vicinity of the blizzard, only to find her energy blade and even her territory were still freezing.

She quickly recognized what was happening and shut off her blade and CR unit, instantly bearing the full weight of her wiring suit and gear as well as the biting, gale force winds on her body, which she had been spared from until now. Moments later, Origami restarted her CR unit; this time, the unnatural freezing did not progress and she thawed the ice away with a mental command.

"Everyone in one piece!"

A chorus of reports rang out over the comms at Kusakabe's shout. It seemed the squadron had managed to make it out of Hermit's trap just fine, but now they were presented with quite the puzzle.

"Great." Kusakabe sighed as she gazed down at the snowstorm. "What do we do about this?"

Origami brought up her HUD's analyzer, recording the ambient spirit values and transmitting the data to the rest of the squadron.

"The spirit values aren't high. The field reacts to the magic output of our Realizers and attacks the source."

"So then, it can't freeze us if we shut off out territories..."

"But if we do that, we'll be struck by those ice shards..."

"Is there a way for us to get in quick and just gun it down?"

"The wiring suits by themselves wouldn't protect us at all..."

"Not to mention the spirit's still got its naked dress. Bullets wouldn't lay a scratch on it..."

Kusakabe listened to her subordinates' chatter before voicing her conclusion.

"Ah, hell. Looks like we're just gonna have to wait it out until Hermit becomes lost on its own."

At her Captain's resigned decision, Origami couldn't help clenching her fist.

Were they really just going to give up so easily?

There were no civilians in danger, any damage to the city could be repaired, and the spirit was completely stationary, and yet Kusakabe was telling them to give up. Had the AST really lost its way to this extent? If the safety of civilians was their first concern, then what better way was there than to exterminate the spirits putting them in danger?

Origami scanned through the current spirit readings visible from her HUD and compared them to previous readings. When she confirmed her suspicions, she turned her sights on a nearby commercial building.

"Captain, permission to requisition civilian assets."

Requisition civilian assets — in other words, pillaging infrastructure for improvised use against spirits. A common enough tactic for the Anti-Spirit Taskforce, whose territories allowed them to easily perform feats far beyond the realm of even industrial machinery.

For Ryouko, the request telegraphed Tobiichi's intentions loud and clear; crush the spirit with an attack too big to miss. Seemed the young recruit still had girlish notions about spirit hunting, and Ryouko had half a mind to deny her and her notions right then and there.

She'd been on the force long enough to know just how powerful spirits were. Hermit had demonstrated that power by freezing the city center in mere moments, and Ryouko was sure that was only a fraction of the spirit's power.

Of course, as monstrous as they were, spirits weren't impossible to kill, but they were slain by carefully kiting them like a video game boss, slowly exhausting them until they couldn't fight back. To just go in guns a blazin' was not only a perfect way to get oneself killed, but to put the lives of one's squadmates and even civilians on the line.

That said...

Hermit was a spirit known for its passivity. It had put Tengu City through a lot this day, but Ryouko was all but certain that was a reflexive defense mechanism rather than any kind of intentional strategy. After all that, losing one more building would be easy to file away under damages incurred by the spirit.

And, more importantly, this would be the perfect opportunity to ingrain in her subordinate the extraordinary difficulty of exterminating spirits, before she ended up getting too big for her britches.

"Permission granted, Tobiichi."

Her subordinate summarily projected her territory, ballooning it out to ten meters and encompassing a sizable chunk of the building's corner within its bounds.

Then she proceeded to tear the section away, filling the air with the earsplitting squeal of rebar twisting and concrete cracking until suddenly — it was silent as the building floated freely in the air, held securely within Tobiichi's territory.

As she did this, Ryouko noticed something interesting about the spirit readings she'd received from her subordinate.

Despite the formidable defense Hermit had put up, the values emitted by the spirit's barrier were surprisingly low.

Or rather... they weren't low, just dispersed.

Tobiichi had realized that the spirit had spread its power across the entire area, creating the barrier but necessitating the use of adaptively targeting threats to not immediately exhaust its reserves.

Against magical attacks, this presented a nigh-impenetrable barrier, but it would do nothing against a physical assault, allowing the building to fall straight through and crush Hermit, whose naked dress must have been incredibly weakened.

Ryouko let out a huff in begrudging admiration. Picking up on something like that amidst the chaos of an operation was no mean feat.

"Tobiichi, you're a genius..." She then turned on her comms. "Everyone! Stand by as close as possible to the barrier with output at maximum! All personnel prepare to fire as soon as that barrier drops!"

As clever as Tobiichi's little gambit was, there was still a chance Hermit would survive. But Ryouko had a feeling things might turn out different this time, and she couldn't help a triumphant smirk at the thought.

This was going to look very good on their resumes.

Oblivious to the machinations of her commanding officer, Origami let out a very long breath before appraising her catch.

Dust and concrete fell in waves from the torn off section of building, along with countless office supplies and fixtures, creating a loud racket within the otherwise silent space of her territory.

She'd purposefully torn off only a chunk of the structure for this reason. She had the capability to grab more, but any larger than this and the section was liable to collapse under its own weight when she released it.

But, there was another reason for Origami's restraint.

Exerting her CR unit to this extent was dangerous. The Combat Realizers they operated were powered by the free glucose in their bloodstream. Pushing it like this would inevitably result in dangerously low blood sugar, and then she'd be lucky if she just lost consciousness.

She'd been praised for her economic use of her Realizer all the way back in basic, but in that moment that restraint was truly being put to through its paces.

As it was, this was just about the most she could do without immediately taking herself out of the field afterwards.

With that in mind, Origami gave a mental command and began to move her improvised weapon, sweat beading on her forehead from the sustained effort. At the same time, she gradually increased her elevation to ensure it would reach terminal velocity before impact.

Eventually, she'd positioned the section of building directly above Hermit's blizzard fortress, its corner aimed directly at its center.

"Preparations complete. Releasing... payload."

So saying, she brought her territory back to its default size in the blink of an eye, leaving her weapon to plummet silently towards her target and crush them beneath its monumental weight.

Or so Origami expected.

Just before her attack could connect, a massive wave of energy smashed against the falling building from the side, and the enormous mass of steel and concrete was reduced to so much debris scattering harmlessly across the streets below.

Scowling at the sudden interference, Origami whipped around in the air and caught sight of long, night-colored hair dancing in the gusts of wind kicked up by the building's destruction.

"Princess..."

The spirit stood atop a nearby building, clad in a blend between their school uniform and a naked dress and flashing a confident smirk.

"Hmph. So you dodged it?"

Preemptively, Origami drew her energy blade.

"What are you doing here..."

The spirit who had not emitted any spirit signals for the past month now stood before them, diminished but unmistakable spirit readings heralding its presence.

"Damn it..." Kusakabe rounded on the spirit. "Leave Hermit for now! All personnel, change target to Princess effective immediately!"

At her orders, the squadron turned their sights on Princess, who leapt into the air and fled in the opposite direction.

As they pursued the spirit, Origami struggled to suppress her rising irritation.

This had been their chance to exterminate Hermit, to exterminate a spirit. But of course, Princess had gotten in the way at the crucial moment. Had to protect one of their own, it seemed.

All this time, Princess had been attending school, pretending to be friendly, fucking her boyfriend, all the time luring them into a false sense of security. But it had finally revealed its true colors at last.

She was just glad she no longer had to play along with that farce.

Origami had judiciously used her CR unit when moving the building in order to avoid incapacitating herself, but such a strain on her body had inevitably taken its toll. It was only because of this that she failed to note the small smirk that played on Princess's lips as the spirit kept just out of reach.

While Tohka gradually lured Origami and the AST away, Shidou rode Sandalphon to a stop in front of the raging blizzard positioned at the heart of the town.

It was incredible just how quickly the temperature fell as he approached it. His body was already shivering, though he couldn't blame that on the cold alone.

Clenching his fist to squeeze out the nerves, Shidou pressed his earpiece.

"Hey, Kotori, you there?"

"Of course, and I'm assuming you have a plan for sealing Yoshino?

"About that... I've been meaning to ask this for a while but... that day I sealed Tohka's power, I was slashed by Origami, right?"

Between everything that had happened this past month, that moment had completely slipped his mind.

Maybe it was because he'd immediately lost consciousness and hardly remembered the actual experience, but either way, Shidou needed confirmation on what exactly had happened that day. Otherwise, his plan for rescuing Yoshino would fail.

There was a long silence before Kotori answered and when she did, her tone was unexpectedly cagey.

"...Yes. That is what happened."

"I was nearly cut in half by a sci-fi energy blade, and yet somehow I healed from that instantly. What exactly was that? Is it something related to the ability to seal spirits?"

"You're half-right..."

"Half-right?"

There was a groan on Kotori's end before she began.

"It is related to sealing spirits. When your body takes significant damage, flames consume you and burn away the wounds."

That seemed awfully convenient, but right now Shidou wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"That's a relief to hear. Otherwise, what I'm about to do would be suicide."

Steeling his resolve, he began marching down the street, towards the blizzard.

"Wait a minute! Don't tell me you're actually about to go into that thing without protection?"

At that, Shidou just cracked a grim smirk.

"Without protection? What is this, more innuendo?"

"It's not innuendo." Kotori sounded deadly serious. "That isn't just an ordinary blizzard, Shidou. That thing is a whirlwind of hail and ice shards, and if it detects any spirit power at all, you'll be frozen solid."

"Damn, that sounds dangerous."

"Yeah, do you understand now? That means you can't use that healing ability of yours at all while you're in there."

That was going to make this a lot harder, but he couldn't exactly give up now.

His mind made up, Shidou began trudging forward through the snow.

"Sh-Shidou!? What are you doing? Shidou, stop! Stop! Big broth—!"

Shidou switched off his earpiece, a small smile on his lips.

It was nice to hear that behind that hardass, dominatrix front of hers, his cute little sister was still there.

He'd hate to give that little sister a reason to cry, but if he didn't help in a situation like this, then what kind of big brother would he be?

But, more than that...

Years ago, he'd read something on a romance blog, about how the defining feature of the romance novel was the Happily Ever After — that, no matter what happened in the story, no matter what hardships the characters faced, the reader was always assured a happy ending.

Shidou was fundamentally a pessimistic person, the kind who expected the worst at every turn, if only to prepare for and head it off. Having something he could turn to where there was a guarantee that things would turn out alright really did keep him going.

Was it unrealistic? Of course, but people needed to hear unrealistic stories sometimes. They couldn't live otherwise.

In the blizzard before him was a girl who had such unrealistic ideals, who wanted to be kind even to people who held nothing but malice towards her. Abandoning someone like that in their hour of need was just about the most unromantic thing he could think of.

And as he marched into that fearsome blizzard, Shidou reflected on these feelings he had for Yoshino.

Where they love?

Well, it seemed he was about to find out.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Why were people mean?

For as long as she could remember, Yoshino had known the answer to this question.

People were mean, because they were weak.

Whether it be cowardice or hatred or ambition or ignorance or negligence or vanity or simple impatience, people were weak enough to succumb to such vices, and in their weakness were cruel to others, and in the wake of that cruelty left behind more people too weak to be anything but mean, and so on and so forth.

In light of this, Yoshino had strived to be the sort of person who could stand on their own two feet and be kind despite it all. Someone strong enough to weather the world's cowardice and its hatred and ambition and ignorance and negligence and vanity and impatience and weakness and through it all still be kind.

But in the end, it seemed she was the meanest one of them all.

So weak and so cowardly that, no matter how she tried to be kind, she couldn't be anything but mean. And without her hero, whose strength she had always relied upon, she despaired that she would never be anything but.

In the heart of her blizzard fortress, surrounded by nothing but cold and darkness, Yoshino wept bitter tears atop the back of her angel Zadkiel, and in that deathly silence, she cried out the name of her hero, the one who meant the world to her, and who had always given her the strength to not be mean.

"Yo... shinon..."

And in that silence, a voice rang out clearly.

"You called!"

Yoshino's head whipped around, towards the source of those words.

On shaky and unsteady feet, a boy stumbled forth from the wall of ice and snow encircling her, before crumpling to the ground, a blue flame summarily consuming his body.

Yoshino watched warily before scrambling over to him when it became clear that the flames were healing his bloody, battered body.

More nude than clothed, only the tattered remains of his shirt and pants clung to his downed body. But even face down like this, Yoshino recognized the boy in front of her.

"...Shi... dou?"

Sluggishly, he held up Yoshinon.

"Yoshino! I finally found you! Man, you would not believe the night I had!"

At the sight of her friend, Yoshino threw her hands over her mouth in shock.

"...You found... Yoshinon..."

"Of course I did... I promised... didn't I?"

As soon as Shidou said this, the girl's eyes filled with tears and she sobbed out of sheer happiness.

"...Thank... you... thank you...!"

She took Yoshinon and returned the puppet to its rightful place on her left hand. A second later, the puppet came to life, shaking the ice and water off its pelt.

Smiling faintly, Shidou lifelessly flopped over onto his back, revealing that a certain body part of his was still quite lively.

Yes, Origami's aphrodisiac tea was — somewhat worryingly — still having an effect on his body. It hadn't been four hours yet, so Shidou was crossing his fingers that it'd go away after what he was about to do next.

Beside him, Yoshino stared unabashedly at his cock, which stood at attention like a soldier at arms. She reached out a hand and prodded the head with a finger, twirling it around in little circles.

It was cute, but a little awkward, to have her play with his dick like this, so Shidou let out a polite cough, knocking the girl out of her trance. Instantly, she threw her hands over her eyes in apology, blushing at her own carelessness, while Yoshinon took over.

"My, my... Shidou, is that a reflex erection, or are you just happy to see me?"

At the very least, she didn't seem shy about sex.

"I have no idea what that first one means, so I'm just gonna say yes to the second." He sat up and placed a hand on Yoshino's shoulder. "Anyway, Yoshino, will you listen to me?"

The girl looked back at him with expectant eyes, nodding as she did so.

"I want to help you, but to do that, we need to seal your powers. If we do that, then you'll stop producing spacequakes, and the AST will stop targeting you."

"Hoh? You make it sound so easy, Shidou. But how, pray tell, does this sealing business work, exactly?"

Oh boy...

That was a natural question following what he'd just said, but Shidou was a little nervous about how Yoshino would respond once he told her what sealing her powers entailed.

But, well, there was no point being anything but honest with her right. He'd learned that from Tohka.

"Well... to do that, we... have to have sex."

A moment passed before Yoshino's eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets and she pulled her hood down to cover the blush spreading across her face.

"Don't tell me you went through the trouble of rescuing me just to bang little ol' Yoshino here as a favor?" Yoshinon rounded on Shidou. "Don't you know women aren't just vending machines that you can put hero coins into and get sex back?"

"I-I know that, and that's not why I'm asking. I promise, I only want to do this to save you."

The puppet backed off.

"Well, that's no fun! If you're gonna boink someone, it should at least be because you want it."

He just could not win with this girl, could he? Suddenly, Shidou was feeling awfully nostalgic for Kotori and Ratatoskr's interference — or rather, assistance — from above. He was gonna have to apologize for getting his earpiece destroyed while trekking through the blizzard.

"...Is it... true?" Yoshino eventually asked. "Will I... stop producing spacequakes... if we do it?"

"Yes. I promise you this will seal your spirit powers. You'll stop producing spacequakes, and the AST will stop attacking you."

At his resolute voice, Yoshino's eyes widened before her gaze returned to the ground, lost in thought as she mulled his words over.

It was probably hard to believe. Shidou remembered how reluctant Tohka had been to believe him, back in that diner a month ago.

"What do you say, Yoshino?" Yoshinon turned to her. "Ready to taste the pleasures of the flesh, which have led many a man to ruin?"

Yoshino hesitated for a long moment before nodding with that same conviction in her eyes that Shidou had misunderstood as naivety. A conviction that seemed a little out of place for what they were about to do, but no less sincere. A bit like Tohka in that regard.

"Well, first things first, do you mind getting on top of me, Yoshino?"

Perhaps a little irresponsible of him as the more experienced one, but after what he'd just been through, Shidou did not have it in him to be the active partner right now.

Yoshino straddled him, stretching one of her slender legs across his lap, drawing out a moan from him.

He hadn't expected the heat of her body to feel so good, and she pressed his erection firmly against the apex of that heat, grinding on him with slow, unsteady motions. At the same time, she fondled him with her free hand, carefully watching the way his hips strained against hers each time his glans peeked out of his foreskin.

Not content to just lie back, Shidou ran his hands along her thighs, traveling up her flank to her chest and noting with some satisfaction the way her breath hitched and her body shuddered at even the slightest touch of his fingers.

Without a doubt, Yoshino was getting into this.

Her eyes were growing heavy and unfocused, while her nipples stood hard and erect. Already, the girl's gentle gyrations were producing lewd sounds, courtesy of the arousal drooling from her lips.

As she savored the sensations, Yoshinon clung to Shidou's chest.

"Well, aren't you... the ladykiller? Yoshino's... already gotten... so wet!"

"Is that so..."

It seemed she was having trouble keeping up the ventriloquism through her body's reactions, something that Shidou was not complaining about.

He didn't mind the puppet per se, but the day had been long and hard, and having sex was just about the last thing his body wanted to do right now (aphrodisiac notwithstanding). Having a third party making color commentary on top of that was just an unwelcome distraction.

As if in response to that thought, Yoshinon got in his face, apparently incensed.

"Take a hint, Shidou! Don't you know it's... rude to... keep a lady waiting?"

"Alright, alright...!"

This was her first time so he'd been trying to take it slow for that reason as well, but it seemed Yoshino had other things in mind.

Perhaps he shouldn't have been so careful. If Yoshinon was anything to go by, this girl had a deceptively adult demeanor.

She leaned forward and hiked up her hips, allowing Shidou to position himself at her entrance, and then she dropped herself down, taking him all in one, sudden movement.

Shidou grunted at the sudden pressure gripping him from all sides. He shifted his weight a bit, holding Yoshino steady as he glanced up at her.

"...Yoshino?"

She gave no response or even an indication that she'd heard him, her eyes shut tight as her body trembled mightily. She had him a vice-like grip, but Shidou felt her slowly relax around him.

"...Ooh~ It's a... snug fit," Yoshinon eventually said, "but... Yoshino's fine, right?"

The girl in question opened her eyes slightly, gazing down at Shidou with parted lips.

"...I'm... fine..."

She didn't seem to be in pain, just overwhelmed by the intense sensation.

Shidou took the opportunity to kiss her, tracing his lips along her collarbone and nape. Yoshino took his attention gladly and slowly began to rock her hips, bracing herself against the ground as she did so.

"...Am I... d-doing it right?"

"Yeah... Ohhh, just keep going like that..."

The wet heat of Yoshino's pussy made for a stark contrast to the surrounding chill, and Shidou quickly found that keeping inside her was by far the more pleasurable option, wrapping his arms around her waist and restricting her movements to tight little circles — all the better for Yoshino, who was now at the perfect angle to grind her clit against him.

Like that, her motions gradually sped up, filling the space with the wet sounds of their lovemaking. While Shidou couldn't help moaning as his pleasure neared climax, Yoshino was silent, her eyes glazed over as her own orgasm rapidly became inevitable.

When she came, Yoshino's mouth hung slack and her thighs shook uncontrollably as a veritable waterfall gushed forth from between them.

Her orgasm couldn't have come a second sooner, because Shidou came just after her.

Waves of pleasure washed over him until he saw stars, his body spurting cum in time with the rhythmic contractions of Yoshino's pussy, which greedily sucked up his seed as fast as he could pump it.

In that whirlwind of sensation was a warmth that blew away any trace of cold, steadily coursing through his very core, even as his orgasm gradually died away. Yoshino's naked dress radiated an intense light before bursting away and leaving her truly naked as she bucked mindlessly, squirting into Shidou's lap until finally collapsing atop him in exhaustion.

The two stayed like that as they caught their breath together, the occasional aftershock of pleasure rocking their hips listlessly against the other. And as they lay there, they noticed the space around them become warmer and brighter.

The blizzard that had beset the city had suddenly vanished, the last traces of storm clouds already dispersing even as Shidou looked up. Even the ice coating the streets of Tengu City had thawed, chased away by the warm glow of sunlight and a rainbow, arcing gently across a clear blue sky, as if promising many such days to come.

Beneath that dazzling sight, covered in cum and sweat, was Yoshino, who gazed up at it in wonder.

"...So... pretty..."

And beside her was Shidou, having since sat up as he watched her.

She'd never seen the sun, had she? Heavy clouds always accompanied her appearance in this world, blocking out everything beyond them.

As he realized this, he decided then and there that he wanted to protect this girl. Protect her and her gentle convictions, which seemed far too pure for the mean streets of life.

With that feeling in his chest, Shidou wrapped an arm around Yoshino's shoulders and held her close, basking in the sunlight together with her.

What a romantic moment that was.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

After that, Shidou and Yoshino were transported to the Fraxinus' teleport bay before the AST could notice them, where they were greeted by a waiting Tohka.

"Shidou, are you okay?"

Normally, Shidou would be the one asking this, but at the moment he was standing butt-ass naked covered in his own blood and cum, so Tohka's reaction was not without reason.

For her part, the girl herself seemed utterly unharmed. Her clothing was a bit singed and torn in spots, but replacing her uniform would be easy enough.

Shidou couldn't help a sigh of relief in that moment. It seemed everything had turned out alright in the end, despite his complete bungling of the situation.

"Yeah... I'm fine, Tohka."

Letting loose one of those dazzling smiles of hers, Tohka rushed up to him and threw her arms around him.

They rocked back and forth like that until Tohka opened her eyes and caught sight of a timid Yoshino, who immediately shrunk away from the taller girl's gaze.

Noticing this, Shidou turned and laid an arm around Tohka's waist.

"Yoshino, this is Tohka. She helped me save you."

Yoshino glanced her way hesitantly.

"...Toh... ka?"

"Yoshino, right?" Tohka leaned over to get a better look at her. "Hmm... You're pretty cute, aren't you?"

The girl blushed a deep shade of red at the unexpected compliment, covering her face as she did so, allowing Yoshinon to take point.

"Ohoho~ ...Miss Tohka, was it? My, my, you're a beautiful, nubile young woman yourself, aren't you, uehehehe!"

"Mm-hmm!"

It was nice to see these two already getting along so nicely.

Lacking the energy to deal with this, Shidou deliberately chose to misunderstand the situation before the distant sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. He turned just in time to see the bay doors slide open.

"K-Kotori?"

The commander of the Fraxinus' stalked up to him, inspected his body carefully for a moment, and then slammed her fist right into his solar plexus.

"Ghaa—!?"

Instantly, Shidou doubled over, ready to fall to his knees if not for his sister hugging him like she was trying to squeeze the life out of him.

"...You stupid, dumbass, idiot... brother!"

Kotori buried her face in his chest.

"I'm the Commander, damn it! You're supposed to listen to me! We were analyzing the blizzard! If you'd just waited, we could have stopped you from getting hurt!"

Her voice was muffled against his chest, so it took a moment for Shidou to realize that she was crying.

"Kotori..."

It had been years since he'd last seen his sister cry. She was normally so gruff and no-nonsense that it had honestly gone a long way towards making her position as commander of the Fraxinus' seem remotely reasonable.

But right now, she seemed like little more than a lost girl clinging desperately to her older brother.

Seeing his sister reduced to this, Shidou couldn't help feeling like a real piece of work.

It seemed he had misunderstood her as well, and because of that he'd given her a reason to cry. Realizing this, he wrapped his arms around Kotori's trembling form and held her tight.

"I'm sorry. That was pretty stupid of me, huh?"

A sniffle.

"...Yeah, it was. Don't ever do something that stupid again..."

"I'll try not to do it again."

"Don't try, just do it."

A chuckle.

"Alright, fine. I won't do it again."

The two stayed like that for a little while longer until her shoulders stopped shaking. Then, with a long, vacuum-esque sniffle, Kotori sucked up the snot threatening to run down her face.

And just like that, she was the picture of the tough-as-nails commander once more.

"Now get a move on." She ordered as she headed for the exit. "We need to get you three some clothes, and I bet you're all starving."

"Ooh! I want a beef bowl!"

Tohka followed along, drawn in by the siren song of food.

Trailing behind with Yoshino clutching onto him, Shidou couldn't exactly share her optimism. He knew what was in store for them.

After everything that had happened — Tohka manifesting a limited version of her naked dress, Yoshino having her powers sealed, and his strange healing ability — the three of them were gonna be in for a long night of testing and examinations.