Date-a-live: ーSpiritual Kinshipー

Chapter 20 - Shidous Resolve

"Aah, both of you came. The Spirit will soon appear. I'm counting on you for the preparations, Reine."

From the captain's seat, Kotori said this to them, with Shidou, Syouji and Reine having arrived on the bridge of the <Fraxinus>.

"...Ah."

Reine made a small nod, flapping back her white coat's hem, and sat down at her console on the lower bridge.

"Now then..." And, when Shidou remained silent, Kotori asked him a question while tilting her head.

"Although we are sorry that we didn't give you much time but have you made your decision? Shidou."

"...Uh" Shidou choked as Syouji gave him a thumbs up.

"Whatever your decision is, it'll be fine with me." He quietly said and at that moment, a loud sound from the siren echoed from the bridge.

"Wha...What?" Shidou stammered as Syouji stepped forward and seemed to be in deep thought.

"An unusually strong Spirit wave reading has been detected! It's coming!"

A male crew member's shout came from the lower bridge and Shidou couldn't help, but look on with confusion.

When Kotori heard the shout, she snapped her fingers.

"Okay. Switch the Main monitor to the image of where the prediction site is."

When Kotori gave the order, a bird's-eye view of the town was projected on the main monitor.

It was the main street which was lined with many shops. Of course there were no human figures visible, but that was to be expected.

Then, suddenly the screen started warping and at first, he thought that the screen was having problems, but that was wrong. The space rippled as Shidou looked on in confusion.

"Wh-What is this...?" He questioned.

"I wonder..." Syouji followed.

"Ara, is this the first time you guys have seen this?"

When Kotori said that the space distortion grew larger. A small light was produced on the screen and together with the sound of an explosion, the screen had turned pure white.

Shidou covered his face to instinctively block the impact, but due to the explosion occurring in the screen, he wasn't met with a shockwave or anything of the sort. Then, after a few seconds, he peeked and on that screen was a different scene from before.

In the space where buildings should be lined up was a crater. Shops, street lights, and telephone poles were gone, but the scattered remains of unattended cars were scattered and the surrounding area looked as if it was struck by a huge hurricane. The scene had resembled the place where I first met Tohka.

"T-This... looking at it from a different view is..." Syouji muttered.

Shidou's twin brother, who usually has a blank stare and half-opened eyes was staring at the screen, looking quite distraught with wide open eyes, with his mouth hanging open.

"So this is a spacequake?" Shidou questioned as Kotori nodded with a "yes"

"ーthis is the dimensional distortion that occurs when a spirit comes over to this world. The calamity of a nightmare-inducing nature."

Shidou had seen the ruins of buildings many times, but this is the first time he has seen the moment the explosion occurred.

There were times when Syouji talked about their nature and his theories on how they worked- they were all mostly wrong, but now that he has seen it up close and thanks to Kotori's explanations, he finally understood.