Dragon Ball x Date a Live

The Saiyan and... More training?!

Just a quick heads up, Goku is NOT a Spirt!! 

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Since their date, a weekend had passed and it was now Monday. 

Unfortunately for Goku, the school building was completely rebuilt, and a sizable number of students had already gathered.

In the midst of them all, Goku absentmindedly sighed, slowly starting to doze off to sleep on his desk. 

—That day. 

Goku and Tohka eventually returned to <Ratatoskr> and were led to the <Fraxinus>'s infirmary. 

They were put in separate parts of the infirmary, much to Tohka's discomfort.  

He went through an extensive medical analysis check-in that facility—but ever since then he hadn't been allowed to even look to Tohka. Even when he asked to talk to her, all he got was that both of them had to finish their examinations. 

Goku had been deemed a Spirit alongside Tohka however he wasn't deemed a threat due to him not being detected as a Spirit while in his normal state.

As if the ten hectic days that had passed since he first met Tohka were a dream, it felt like torture going back to his old routine.

However, there was one thing that interested him. 

That day that Goku kissed Tohka. 

At that moment, the raiment Tohka wore had melted and disappeared—and at the same time, he felt as if something warm had entered his body.

—What exactly was that feeling? 

However, that was the least of his problems. Or at least, to Goku. 

He clearly remembered being forced out of his Super Saiyan form, and he didn't know why. It was right after kissing Tohka too.

Slightly, he touched his lips.

He also realized for some reason, he couldn't transform after that.

Kotori explained to him that he had sealed most of Tohka's power, meaning she was basically a normal person.

Maybe he pseudo-sealed himself when kissing Tohka? It seemed like the most logical answer he could think of. But if that were the case shouldn't he be weaker too?

For some reason, he didn't feel any weaker at all. 

Then another thought came to his mind—Where did he get these powers anyway? Why could he seal Tohka?

But before he could think further, the classroom doors slid open with a rattling sound, and Goku's head slightly perked up. 

—Instantly, the classroom was abuzz.

That was to be expected, because, after all, Tobiichi Origami had come to school, wrapped all over with bandages. 

"...!"

He couldn't help but lose his breath.

Goku knew there was tech that could heal injuries quickly. But after 3 days and still having that many bandages, it had to have been quite the injury.

But at least she was okay. 

"H-hey, Tobiichi, I'm glad that you're doing—"

He started to say, but suddenly Origami disappeared from his field of view.

A moment later, Goku looked down to see that Origami was giving a deep bow. "Tobiichi...?"

The classroom became noisy, and all gathered on Goku and Origami. But neither cared, and Origami continued.

"—I'm sorry. Although it is not something that can be resolved with a single apology."

Goku was about to ask what she was apologizing about, before remembering what supposedly happened that day. Origami had attacked Tohka, but instead of hitting her, it hit him instead. 

The students around the two of them gossiped about Goku harassing or assaulting Origami, but Goku being Goku, could care less. 

"Uhh... Please, raise your head... I forgive you." 

Goku said, and Origami obediently straightened up. "So does that mean we're still friends or—"

Then in the next moment, she grabbed onto the base of Goku's necktie.

"...?"

Her could expression not changing the least, Origami pulled her face close. "No cheating." 

"Wha...?"

Starting with Goku the eyes of everyone watching Origami's actions comically turned to dots. 

Did that mean they were still friends??

And as if matching the timing, the chime that signaled the start of homeroom rang.

While glancing at the duo with interest, the students returned to their seats.

However, Origami alone remained staring intently at Goku's face. Then, Origami finally let go after Ms. Tamae entered the room.

"Gooood morning, evvvveryone. Homeroom is starting... T-Tobiichi, what are you doing...?"

"..."

Origami silently glanced at Tamae, and then released Goku's necktie and returned to her seat.

Still, that was right beside Goku, so it was as if nothing had changed. 

"O-okay, has everyone settled in?"

Feeling the unrest in the classroom, Tamae said in an excessively cheerful voice. Then she hit her hand as if remembering something, and nodded to herself.

"Oh, right, before we take attendance today, I have a surprise!—Come in!"

Saying this, she called towards the door that she had just herself come in through.

"Mm."

"—" 

Origami's jaw dropped, and Goku noticed this. It was very uncharacteristic of her.

Goku turned his gaze to the front of the classroom.

"—I am transferring into this class from today, my name is Yatogami Tokha. Please to be in your care." 

Wearing a high school uniform, Tohka entered with a gigantic smile on her face.

Face with this beauty that could cause one's eyes to hurt just by looking at it, the class grew rowdy again. 

Ignoring the gazes, Tohka took a piece of chalk, and in barely readable, as if practically mimicking Goku's handwriting, wrote just the words "Tohka" on the blackboard. Shen then nodded to herself as if satisfied.

That girl... She looks so much like Tohka... And she has the same name as her too... That's quite the coincidence—

"..."

Taking a moment to put the piece together with his limited brain power, Goku quickly realized why Origami had her jaw dropped, and moments later, his jaw dropped too.

"Toh..."

Suddenly, Goku stood up from his seat, with the same energy that Tohka had.

"AHH!! TOHKA?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!!"

Yelling this out, Goku once again became the center of focus of the class.

Tohka turned to face the source of the voice. She gave off a strange shine and illusionary glow.

"Ohh, Goku! I missed you!" 

Shen then called out Goku's name with a loud voice and hopped over to right beside his seat—right where Origami had been standing just moments ago.

Murmur, murmur. From all around, theories of the relationship between the two of them as well as the connection with what happened with Origami before could be heard.

"T-Tohka...? Why are you here...?"

"Nn, the examinations and such had finished.—It turns out over 99% of my power had disappeared.

Tohka said in a small voice. 

"Well—it ended up good for me. I no longer cause the world to cry just by existing. Then, well, your sister did a bunch of stuff." 

"I-I see... That's good to know. So where did you get your last name from?"

"What was her name, that sleepy woman gave it to me." 

"That's a nice name..."

Goku said and laid on his desk as he sighed.

He was glad Tohka was allowed to be free instead of being in that traitorous place they called a medical office. 

"What's wrong, Goku? You look down.—Ahh, could it be, were you lonely when I was gone?"

She said such a thing while being completely serious.

At a volume big enough for the surrounding people to hear, no less. The commotion in the classroom reached a climax.

"I mean... I did miss you." 

Goku muttered. And It seemed like Tohka wasn't that delighted to hear that answer, as she replied, 

"Hmph, how cold. Even though you were chasing me so wildly back then." 

Saying this, she placed her hands on her two cheeks and made an embarrassed look.

"—Wha...?"

The atmosphere changed even more. There were people sending messages from the shadows of their desks and it wouldn't be long before Goku was known for something other than his low IQ. 

He increased his volume a little and spoke again.

"Tohka, if you say it that way, people are gonna get the wrong idea!"

"Nu? Are you saying that it was a misunderstanding? Even though you took my first time..."

"Your first time? What do you mean by that?" 

"You know... our... kiss..." 

Tohka said in a lower voice, but the damage was already done.

Ignoring the teacher's commands, the class went berserk. Then, immediately—Tohka moved her face to the right, followed by Goku. "Eh...?"

In front of Goku's eyes, something that seemed like a pen sliced through the air at amazing speed. 

"Huh?"

He searched for its source. There, still in the posture as if she had just thrown a pen, was Origami with a cold stare.

"...Nu?"

"..."

Tohka and Origami. Their eyes crossed. "Nu, why the hell are you here?" 

"That's my line."

It immediately became a critical situation.

—However, it didn't seem like they wanted to fight.

But of course. One side had last almost all her power, and the other side was without her equipment and injured.

"O-okay! Stop it! Let's end this now! Okay! Don't fight!"

Ms. Tamae hurriedly cut between the two of them and somehow managed to diffuse the situation.

However.

"Now, Yatogami, your seat will be—"

The teacher started to search for Tohka's seat, but "No need. —Move."

Tohka let out a sharp look at the student beside Goku—on the opposite side of Origami.

"E-eeek!"

Faced with that pressure, the female student fell from her chair. "Nn, thank you."

Saying that, Tohka calmly sat down, and looked towards Goku. But doing so, she met not Goku's gaze, but rather Origami's. 

"..."

"..."

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"Goku! I baked something called a cookie!"

Goku, who was eating his 4 boxes of lunch quietly, turned his head towards Tohka, and smiled cheerfully, matching her energy.

"Oh, Hey Tohka!"

She lifted the container's lid which was in her hands.

"Look at this!" 

The many things inside were irregularly shaped and had burn marks everywhere. They were a poor excuse for cookies.

Goku and Tohka were in the same class, but to 'give the individual students a holistic education'... or something like that, things were like a science class, and the cooking classes were conducted in small groups of students.

In other words, only the girls had cooking class today while the boys ate their lunch.

"So... these are cookies?"

"Umu, I had everyone teach me. I made this, so try eating it!"

"Sure, I'll have some."

For some reason, Goku felt as if all the boys were watching him with glares of resentment. He didn't understand why, but to a normal person, that was to be expected.

The fact that the least intelligent boy was able to enjoy the girl's homemade cookies made him the target of all the other guy's jealousy.

What's more, it was said that right after transferring in, Yatogami Tohka had exploded upwards in the rumored "Girl You Want Most as a Girlfriend" rankings.

Taking a cookie from the container, he slowly lifted it toward his mouth——

"While his attention was elsewhere, a silver blur flew in a straight line in front of his eyes.

The shot came from the hallway, and after breaking the cookie in Goku's hand into small pieces, it pierced the wall.

"Huh? What was that??"

Goku said as he traced back the trajectory of the silver blur, seeing a fork stuck into the wall.

Biiiin... was the hum from its vibration. It had a simple design, probably from the cafeteria.

"What, who threw that! That's dangerous you know!"

Tohka shouted as she turned towards the hallway. Goku did the same as his eyes turned in that direction.

"..."

Standing over there as if she had just thrown something a few seconds ago, was Origami with her right hand stretched out.

"Tobiichi?"

"Nu?"

Goku looked at Origami in confusion while Tohka knitted her eyebrows together in displeasure.

Origami slowly approached them while looking at both of them.

After stopping in front of Goku, she lifted the lid of the container she was holding with her left hand and brought it out like how Tohka did a few moments ago.

"You don't have to put Yatogami Tohka's thing in your mouth. If you are going to eat something, then eat this—"

Inside the container, there were perfect cookies that were uniform in shape and lined up in neat rows. It looked like a product straight from a factory line.

"Uhh, sure. I'll—"

"Don't interfere! Goku is going to eat my cookies!"

While Goku was about to respond, Tohka answered with a high-pitched voice.

However, Origami didn't flinch at all. Her expression didn't even twitch as she shook her head.

"The one who is interfering is you. You should leave immediately."

"What are you saying? Coming afterward and acting all high and mighty."

"The order in which we arrived does not matter. I cannot allow you to have him ingest your cookies."

"Wha— WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"You did not sufficiently wash your hand. What's more, while you were baking, you choked during the rising of the flour, causing you to sneeze three times. This is unusually unhygienic."

"Wha..."

As if she got thrusted into the void, Tohka's eyes spun around.

For some reason, the moment Origami finished speaking, the male students started to get very noisy and excited. All eyes were on Tohka's cookies.

But Tohka wasn't in any state to notice this influx of attention; "Grrr..." she clenched her fist.

"Go-Goku is strong, so that much is okay for him!"

"You appear to be unaware of the consequences—— Also, you messed up the proportions of the ingredients. I don't think by skipping s parts of the recipe, that your cookies can be considered finished."

"...?!"

When Origami said that, Tohka frowned, she looked down at Origami and her own cookies.

Goku wanted to intervene, because to him, all this smart talk was starting to sound more like bullying than constructive criticism. 

"H-Hey guys, maybe you two should sto—"

Wha... why didn't you say anything when we were in class?"

"It wasn't my duty to point it out. ——In any case, the odds that my cookie would satisfy him are obviously higher."

"Shu-Shut up! There's no way cookies from someone like you could ever be delicious!"

Tohka shouted, while her eyes were spinning at an unstoppable speed. She took a cookie from Origami's container and put it in her mouth.

And then the crispy sounds could be heard as she started chewing on it——

"Fuaa..."

Her cheeks were dyed the color of cherry blossoms, and she made an ecstatic expression. From the looks of it, the cookie was delicious, and now Goku wanted one.

But Tohka immediately changed her expression by shaking her head vigorously.

"Fu-Fuun, It wasn't such a big deal! If your cookie is like that, then mine is more delicious!"

"That is most unlikely. You should just gracefully admit your defeat."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"What?"

"Calm down! Both of you!"

If they were left alone, a fight might break out, so Goku decided to get in between them and create some distance.

"Nu... then Goku, whose cookies do you want to eat?"

"Eh?"

Faced with such words all of a sudden, a drop of sweat fell from Goku's face. 

Tohka and Origami from both left and right at the same time brought out their containers.

"Well, Goku?"

"..."

Both Tohka and Origami had glints in their eyes that could pierce and pin down an enemy, and as they stared at Goku, another drop of sweat began to flow down his cheek.

...Somehow, it felt like no matter what he ate, he would be killed.

Then, he took a cookie from both containers and placed them in his mouth at the same time.

"WOW... These both taste amazing!"

"Umu, my cookie was eaten a bit faster!" 

"Mine was eaten 0.02 seconds faster."

These words were both said at the same time 

"..."

And then, their faces quietly met.

"Uhm..." 

Today was not the first time that the ambiance was like that. And at that very moment as expected from both sides, a huge amount of stress that was building in their fists was about to be released before Goku once again chimed in.

"Can I... Have more...?"

"..."

"..."

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As the sun slowly set, Goku walked upon the residential streets of Tenguu City. It had been a long day. 

Ever since that fated day with cookies, Tohka and Origami's quarreling hadn't stopped, and Goku had to intervene.

Although Tohka enrolled about a month ago into the same high school that Goku was attending, the two of them (Tohka and Origami) would have competitions every single day. 

Goku let out a sigh.

If it were simply about normal schoolgirls having some verbal quarrels, Goku wouldn't have such a hard time.

He recalled Tohka's and Origami's forms from last month.

One side was an evil Spirit that people thought was a disaster that would wreak the world.

On the other was an Anti-Spirit Team wizard belonging to the JDSF.

They were both girls with abnormal powers beyond that of humans. This meant Goku was the mediator between the two of them, and frankly, Goku was getting tired of having to parent the two of them every day.

"Man... Can't those two just get along?"

Until a month ago, both of their goals would have been to take each other's life.

Right now, in order to prevent Tohka's Spirit from going berserk, Origami and the rest of the AST openly avoided aiming for her life according to the orders...

Naturally, making them become friends would be anything but simple—that was obvious. 

However, if this were to continue on, then Goku would start to lose his precious—

"Hmm...?"

Suddenly, he lifted his head.

Unexpectedly, standing alone, he felt something cold drip on his neck.

"..."

With a groan, a frown appeared on his face. Before he knew it, the sky was getting covered by heavy gray clouds.

"Rain huh? I don't remember it saying it was going to rain today..."

And with an unbelievable timing that made it seem like this was planned from the beginning, splash splash, and large water droplets started to stain the asphalt road.

Surprisingly enough, Goku's hair was completely fine, unlike his clothes which were completely soaked.

He started to pick up the pace, hurriedly jogging to his house.

But, as if the rain was laughing at Goku, it intensified in a blink of an eye. Even Goku's hair couldn't resist the bombardment as it started to slightly droop downward.

"You can't be serious..."

Instead of thinking of matters such as "my clothes are sticking to my body, how uncomfortable" or "it'd be bad if I were to catch a cold", he was more worried about whether or not his uniform would get dry the next day. A little water never hurt anyone after all.

However, immediately after turning right at an intersection, Goku suddenly stopped running.

He then stopped caring about being drenched, because in front of him———

Instead of the water droplets that were falling from the sky, there was something else that bothered him that appeared from afar. 

"A girl?"

Goku's lips spoke. And indeed, it was a girl.

A mantle with a cute design, wrapped around her body, was forming a small shadow.

Her face was not visible, mainly because her hood with decorative rabbit ears was covering her face.

However, what stood out the most was her left hand.

An amusing-looking-rabbit-shaped puppet was equipped on it. Such a girl, in an area which was empty of people...

pyon pyon

...was hopping around cheerfully in circles. 

Goku scratched the back of his wet head, the question being processed.

'Why was that girl not holding an umbrella but jumping up and down under the rain instead? And was it weird that he wanted to join in?' — No, that wasn't the question.

Why?

Why did he feel like something was attracting him to her? It was a question like that.

She was certainly wearing an eye-catching attire. But no, it wasn't about that. 

It was a weird sensation. Plus he recently felt something like that.

"..." 

He furrowed his brow, focusing on the girl.

Her energy—was abnormally high compared to a normal human. Putting it into numbers, it'd be around 7000. 

Why was someone as powerful as her, dancing freely in the middle of the downpour of cold raindrops—

Sliiiiiiide!

"What...?"

His eyes widened, bewildered by what just happened.

...That powerful someone lost her footing.

Her face and stomach hit the ground hard, splashing the water puddle. Incidentally, the puppet on her left hand slipped off and flew forward.

And then, lying face-down on the ground, she had stopped moving. 

"...H-Hey!"

Goku rushed over and turned her over while still holding her small body.

"Are you alright? That was uhh... quite a fall." 

For the first time, he was able to see the girl's face.

Her age should be around his sister's age, maybe a year or two younger. Her azure, fluttering hair was blue as the sea. Her soft lips had a pink color and she was a girl that looked like a beautiful French doll.

"...!"

And then, the girl opened her eyes, revealing her long eyelashes and her sapphire-like pupils.

"Ahh, are you hurt somewhere?"

After Goku said that, the girl's face turned ghastly pale, and her eyes were spinning round and round, then she sprung up as if she was trying to escape from Goku.

After that, she pulled a certain distance between them; her whole body started to faintly tremble. She looked at Goku with fear in her eyes.

"...Err..."

Well, although it was only to help her, he did suddenly invade her personal space, but he didn't see what the problem was for the most part.

"Uh... Sorry about that. I was just trying to help——"

"—! Don't, come any closer... please..."

"Eh?"

Just as Goku took a step forward, the girl timidly said: "Please... Don't... hurt... me."

The girl followed with those words.

Did she see Goku as a bad person? It did seem that way, and she looked like a trembling little animal.

"Errr..."

And Goku, who had no idea how to react to that, noticed the puppet that fell on the ground. 

It was something that had previously fallen off the girl's hand. He slowly bent over, picked it up, then presented it to the girl.

"Is this... yours?"

"...!"

The girl widened her eyes and wanted to rush towards Goku, but suddenly stopped.

Although she wanted to retrieve that puppet, she made a face that expressed her fear of approaching Goku, so she restlessly kept waiting for a better time.

When he saw the girl's state, he made a bitter smile. He then brought forward his hand that was holding the puppet to slowly shorten the distance.

"...!"

The girl twitched her shoulders,—— maybe because she realized Goku's intentions, she crept forward and approached slowly.

And then, she snatched the puppet from Goku's hand and wore it on her left hand. Suddenly, the girl started manipulating the puppet's mouth to open and close it. "Yaahh——, sorry 'bout that bro. You're a life-saver—"

There was a word for something like this, but Goku didn't know what it was. All he knew was that it meant talking through a puppet, as the rabbit made a strange high-pitched noise.

Tilting its head to the side, it looked at the girl's face as though it was questioning her... And as if it wanted to bare between Goku and the girl, the rabbit puppet continued talking.

"———Hmmm, hey—, when ya were waking me up, it looked like ya touched Yoshinon in lots of places. So, how was it hmmm? Be honest and tell us how was it?"

"What do you mean...?"

The puppet made an impression as if it was laughing, clattering, and moving its body accordingly.

"Oh, you're kidding——Don't pretend, ya lucky pervert... Well, for the time being, ya did help me up, so treat this as a special service that I.Gave.You."

"Aaah..., yeah."

After the puppet said those words, he gave back a bitter smile. "Umm, well, see ya. Thanks, sir."

After the puppet said those words, the girl turned on her heels and then ran away.

"Ah—hey!"

Even though Goku called her, the girl did not respond.

She continued running and followed the bending road. Her figure instantly disappeared from his sight.

"That was... weird."

A few seconds had passed after watching the strange girl retreat. Goku was still standing at that same spot; he said that while scratching the back of his head. "...Ah."

And then he realized.

He didn't realize it while he was helping the girl out, but

——Goku's body was now completely soaking wet.

To top it off, because of the place where his knees touched the ground, his pants were left magnificently dirty. 

"Ahhh man..."

 While wondering whether he would be able to clean his pants when he returned home, he shook his head around like a wet dog. Droplets of water left his hair and flew in every direction.

There was not much he could do except clean himself up, since he was already wet. He tried to cheer himself up, thinking about dinner—before remembering he was the one who had to cook it.

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A few minutes had passed since he started walking. "...Hm?"

After finally arriving in front of his house, as he inserted the key into the house entrance, Goku gave a sigh of relief. 

After turning the doorknob, he pulled the door. 

As expected, the door that was locked after he left opened without any resistance. 

"——Kotori... that girl, she finally came home."

Goku's sister, Itsuka Kotori, attends the middle school in the neighborhood, as a 13-year-old second-year middle school student. 

And at the same time, she was also a commanding officer in the organization that neutralized Spirits through peaceful means. <Ratatoskr>.

Since his sister had to help the Anti-disposal unit with some matters concerning the protection of the Spirit Tohka, she had not returned home for almost a month. Goku sighed as the image of Kotori's face came into his mind. 

"Really."

Even thought he understood that she was busy with Tohka's case, he still couldn't forgive her for not at least telling him she would be sleeping outside the house.

Although she managed to attend school normally... as a brother, he had to lecture her for a long time.

"Besides——" 

There were a ton of questions that Goku had to ask Kotori no matter what, since she was the center of all of them, to begin with.

Stepping foot into the house, he said.

"—I'm home."

He took off his shoes and socks that were soaking wet because of the rain, slowly tip-toeing towards the bathroom. 

From the hallway, he could hear sounds coming out from the TV; there was no doubt that Kotori should be in the living room.

He couldn't have a conversation when he didn't look his coolest in front of Kotori. It was better if he entere the living room after drying up and changing anyway.

While holding his bag and socks with one hand, Goku opened the bathroom door like he always did, ready to freshen up.

And— "——?!"

In an instant, Goku's eyes widened.

—In the bathroom was the figure of a girl.

Covered under the long night-colored hair were eyes that shone like crystals.

That girl could only be one girl.

Yatogami Tohka was there.

—There was not a single cloth that was covering her body.

"Tohka...!?"

Goku muttered, dumbfounded.

While Goku didn't think much of it, her limbs could be qualified as artistically beautiful. 

She had breasts that could be entirely covered by someone's palm, a slender waist, and a buttock that looked soft. All the girls in the world would hold a reverence that would pierce through the boundaries of envy or jealousy for this charming yet mysterious naked body.

"...?!"

And finally, Tohka twitched her shoulders and turned her face toward his direction.

"Wha... Go-Goku?!"

"T-Tohka... What are you doing here?!"

"Why are you saying that now?! Didn't they teach you to knock first?! Y-You...! Pervert!!"

"But this is my house... My bathroom!!"

Tohka, dying from embarrassment, closed her eyes and threw a punch as hard as she could at the Saiyan, who fortunately reacted quickly, her fist grazing his hair.

"Tohka, calm down! Just wait a sec— WuuuUUAAH—"

However as Goku spoke, he forgot the face he was in a bathroom, and Tohka was taking a shower in said bathroom which made the floor slippery.

And then—

"....Eh?"

"KYAAAAAAA—!!"

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"Hmm? What the heck is all that noise..."

Kotori, who was watching her favorite TV channel, heard the commotion from the bathroom.

Since it was raining, It was obvious that Goku was going to clean himself up, which is why Kotori offered Tohka to go right before Goku did to continue the... training.

She walked towards the bathroom door and slowly, she turned the door handle and opened the door to see a scene not fit for someone her age to see.

Tohka, on top of Goku, her legs on each side of his waist, and the reason why Goku had been so quiet up until now was because...

 His complaints were muffled by Tohka's breasts on his face.

"—Mmmmmpfffff...!"

Goku squirmed around, desperately trying to get air.

"D-Don't move like that i-idiot!!"

Tohka, whose face was bright red, tried to push herself off Goku, however, each time she tried to stand up, she was pushed back down unintentionally by Goku's swinging arms. And due to the lack of air, Goku passed out.

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Goku eventually woke up on the hallway floor, quickly getting up as he ran to the living room to see Kotori, casually watching TV.

"Kotori! What is Tohka doing here!? And why was she naked in the bathroom?!"

When he did that, the little twin-tailed kid that was sitting on the sofa watching TV, turned around, bringing those round eyes that looked like an acorn towards Goku.

"O-Onii-chan. Welcome back!"

"Oh, thanks. But you still haven't answered my question!"

"Now now... Calm down, calm down, it was just a bit of training~"

"Training?! You're saying me being suffocated is training?!"

"Eh— Well—about that—"

Kotori stretched a finger in the direction of the kitchen. "Oh...?"

Goku brought his eyes toward the direction that Kotori was pointing. "..."

"...Ah, I'm coming in." 

There was a woman with an excessively sleepy face, arriving at the dining table that was separating the living room and the kitchen. She was adding many sugar cubes into a steaming hot cup.

—She was Murasame Reine, the analysis officer of <Ratatoskr> and also the assistant homeroom teacher in charge of his class.

Incidentally, she was not wearing her usual military uniform, a white robe, but the pajamas of Goku's mother while having a towel hanging around her neck. Her hair was somehow a little moist. 

"Oh, cough, Reine? What are you doing here?"

After reflecting on Goku's question for a short while, she scratched her head and said:

"...Ah, I'm sorry. Am I using too much sugar?"

"Nah, don't worry about it."

While Reine was definitely putting enough sugar cubes in that cup to worry about getting a sugar crash, he didn't really mind.

"So what is this about? I thought Tohka was living in the <Fraxinus>."

"...Aah, that's right. I should've given you an explanation."

Reine said that while rubbing her eyes, that had dark circles around them.

"...But before that."

"Before... what?"

"...Wouldn't it be better if you changed your clothes first? The floor is getting wet."

"Oh right. Sorry about that." 

 ------------------------------------------------------

"So? What's this all about?"

Goku had changed into his casual clothes, a bright cyan T-shirt with bright yellow shorts. He set his sights on Reine and Kotori, who were sitting on the other side of the table.

The three of them were currently on the second floor of the Itsuka residence, in Kotor's room.

The space was about 9 x 12 ft. The room was filled by pink dressers, a bed, and there was a crowd of fancy accessories and dolls that were placed everywhere.

He wanted to continue the conversation in the living room, but due to some sensitive topics that shouldn't be reaching Tohka, they moved here.

Incidentally, Tohka was distracted, watching anime in the living room. She should be quiet for the next 20 minutes or so.

"Well,—about this."

Kotori poked her soft cheek with her finger pushing it upward. 

"From today onwards, Tohka will be temporarily staying here in our house."

Then, puffing her chest out with pride, she made an innocent smile.

"Okay, but why...?"

"...It's simple, Goku."

Goku said, and Reine replied.

"...The reason can be more or less classified into three parts."

"...Do you remember how you explained to us how your Angel disappeared after you kissed Tohka and sealed her powers, you reverted to your normal state?"

"My... what?" 

"Your crazy blonde hair, Onii-chan."

"Oooh, you mean my Super Sai— I-I mean you mean my Spirit powers?"

"...The first part——is to monitor both you and Tohka simultaneously." 

"Monitor? Why?" 

Goku questioned, tilting his head.

"...Basically, there is something like an invisible connection running between you and Tohka."

"Connection? What does that mean?"

"...To put into simpler words, when Tohka's mental state becomes unstable, there's the chance that the spiritual power that is sealed within your body will reflux."

"..."

So what they were saying was that the seal that was placed on Tohka's Spirit powers would let it come back to her too?

"...And in your case, your mental state rarely changes to begin with, which is why we allowed you to return home."

"Ooh... So since I can keep my cool, I get to stay here... Makes sense."

"...As you know, Tohka is now living in the isolated area of <Fraxinus>."

"...And Although we are usually monitoring both of your mental conditions... Somehow, when Tohka is on <Fraxinus>, the levels of stress measured are higher compared to the levels when she is at school."

"I-Is that so?"

"...Yes. Moreover, just like how you completely refused to take regular inspections twice a day, she doesn't like them either. Although it is within her tolerance for now, it would be hard even for an expert to say whether we could continue on like this——And that's why—"

"—Considering that the results gained from the inspections have been stable, we will be changing Tohka's living quarters to the outside of <Fraxinus> for a while."

"I see..."

"...Ahh. Due to these circumstances, it has been decided that Tohka will be staying in this how for the time being while the special Spirit residential building is being built."

"Wait..."

Goku put his right palm on his forehead. "You're not telling me I'm gonna have to move over there, are you?"

"...It's going to be next door." 

"Oh, so I still get to stay here?" 

"...Yes. And Tohka is also staying here because— to put it bluntly, when she is with you, her mental state will be at its most stable condition."

"R-Really now?"

"...That is to say,— while this is hard for us to judge, Tohka hasn't put her trust in any person other than you. Whether it's me or Kotori, although we had many opportunities to be in contact with her—— that wasn't the case... Even still, even if it's little by little, we will test whether or not Tohka is capable of living a normal life."

After hearing that long explanation, Goku understood it for the most part. What's more— he was told that Tohka trusted him and to be honest,

He wasn't against it at all.

But, he was still concerned about another matter. 

"Then... What about me? You haven't explained why you wanted to watch over me." 

Reine and Kotori looked at each other before Reine spoke up once more.

"...Well, for starters, you are the only male Spirit ever recorded. And this would, for the most part, solve most of our questions as to why you can seal Spirits."

"...Plus, your Angel being sealed was most likely a side effect of you sealing Tohka. And since you didn't want to undergo a thorough examination, we have used the same procedures we are using with Tohka, on you.—Ahh, also, the third reason is more straight-forward. Goku, this is also for your training."

Training. Once his favorite word was reduced to nothing but many unpleasant memories. "I-I thought there was no need for that er, training."

"...Huh? Why is that?"

"Well you know, 'cos Tohka's powers have already been sealed." 

When Goku said that, Reine turned into a wobbly state, which made her swing her head to the side.

"...Who said you and Tohka were the only Spirits?"

"What do you mean by—"

"...It means exactly what I said. A special trait of the calamity-designated creatures— also known as Spirits—is causing Spacequakes. But you and Tohka aren't the only ones. At this current time, we have confirmed that there are other ones besides you two."

"Wh—..."

—So Tohka wasn't the only one?

"...Goku. We want you to continue taking the role of conversing with Spirits. That's what the training is about."

"I don't know... It's just kind of weird—"

Then, Goku turned his gaze to see Kotori, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, raising her small voice.

Before anyone noticed, the color of the ribbon that had been tying her hair in twin tails had changed from white to black.

Goku slightly frowned, knowing that his sister was now in "Commander Mode"

"So you don't want to, Goku? Are you saying that you hate dating Spirits and making them fall for you so that you can save them?" 

Her tone was totally different from a few minutes ago. While giving off adult-like vibes, Kotori had spoken.

"Uh, I mean I—"

Goku having said that, Kotori bent her body slightly forward while opening her lips.

"Geez, If that's the case, then there's nothing we can do anymore." 

"Huh?"

"We can either quietly watch the world getting messed up by Spacequakes or patiently wait for a
miracle-like event by letting the AST kill the Spirits. It'll probably be one of those two."

Goku frowned. The harsh reality once again faced him, that it was either he did this, or those two things would happen.

His sister was trying to guilt him, and it was working.

"The unusual power that can seal the ones of the Spirits away— you are the only person in the whole world that holds that. And yet, you're saying that you don't want to do this."

"I'm not saying I don't want to... But first of all—Kotori."

"What is it?"

"When did you even become the commander of <Ratatoskr> to begin with? I had no idea of what you were."

Although he didn't have any intent to say 'Don't keep secrets from me,' this was something important. His sister was possibly putting her life at risk and it was something she shouldn't have kept a secret from at least him.

"I was appointed as the commander of the combat unit of <Ratatoskr> around five years ago."

"Five years ago... wait. FIVE?"

After Goku finished making simple calculations in his head, he lifted it back up to face Kotori.

"So you're saying you became a commander of a giant flying boat when you were eight years old??"

"First of all it's AIRSHIP, and second, it was more like training. In reality, it was only recently that I have taken the command post."

"Yeah but, why would they take a little girl in the first place?"

"Well, how do I put it? <Ratatoskr> realized that I possess an overflowing intelligence."

"What?? That doesn't make any sense."

"Even if you tell me that, nothing can be done since it's the truth. Why can't you just believe in the words of your little sister more obediently? Do you think you will look smart if you doubt other people's words?"

Her behavior was completely different from the usual cute Kotori's. 

"No, no. I believe you and all, but I'm just a little concerned—Is this double personality of yours because of <Ratatoskr>...?"

After Goku said that, Kotori snorted.

"That's simplistic and rude. Think a little before you say anything. In the first place, this is—"

"This is?"

"..."

After Kotori looked at Goku with a complicated expression, she swung her head away and ignored his words.

"—That matter isn't important. Right now, we are talking about <Ratatoskr>. Plus, about five years ago, some incidents happened and became the turning point for the organization."

"Hey don't just change the—"

But Goku's words were stopped halfway.

It was because Kotori put her fingers around the rod of the lollipop she was eating, took it out of her mouth, and pointed it at Goku.

"—Due to the discovery of the boy who can seal the Spirits' power with a kiss, <Ratatoskr> thereafter has positively shifted its objective towards protecting Spirits."

Assuming that boy was Goku himself, he asked Kotori,

"And why was I given this kind of power to begin with?"

"We dunno, just like we don't know how you are a Spirit, but at the same time you've been living a normal life for the past 16 years."

"Then how did you know I have this kind of power to begin with? And what on Earth even happen five years ago?"

The moment Goku said that while scratching the back of his head... Kotori averted her gaze to the ground.

"..."

After seeing that she seemed different than usual and took on an expression of grief, Goku quickly changed his tone.

"H-Hey, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to..."

She looked as if she was feeling deep sorrow. As if she recalled some painful memories.

——It looked like she felt remorse because of something wrong that could not be undone.

"Ko-Kotori?"

When Goku called her name, Kotori came back to Earth, and her shoulders slightly trembled. 

"Eh—yeah, it was discovered through <Ratatoskr>'s observation device. That's how it was. And I also managed through the same method."

She was completely different compared to her usual Commander Mode. Plus, Kotori said those vague words in an evasive manner.

Whatever happened was probably too sensitive for her to continue, so Goku changed the subject.

"Erm, Anyway—"

After Kotori coughed and cleared her throat, she pointed at Goku with her finger.

"Right now, the most important information is that [you have the power to do something about the Spirits.] Got it?! So make your choice— From now on, will you accept or not to capture the Spirits' hearts for us?"

"..."

After discovering the existence of Spirits, Goku was excited to know there was someone he could finally fight. That was before he saw Tohka's expression. Fighting them was out of the question because the only reason they were fighting was to protect themselves. 

If he were to let his urges get the better of him, what kind of guardian would that make him? He already failed the first time by letting Tohka die, which he would not allow to happen again. 

Looking back up at Kotori, Goku said, with a serious expression on his face. 

"I'll do it."

"—That's my big brother for you... Oh yeah—also, try to always stay calm, we can't have you being killed by the AST because you decide to change your hair color."

Kotori said and directed her gaze towards Reine, who was sitting beside her.

"Well then Reine, the preparations."

"...Okay then, leave them to me ...Or rather, everything is already complete."

After Reine said that while wobbling her head, Kotori whistled.

"As expected. You work fast."

"Preparations? What are you two talking about?"

Goku turned his head sideways in confusion, to which Kotori replied like it was a natural thing to do.

"Eh? Therefore, Tohka's room preparation was already decided. She is going to use the second floor's guest room."

"Hmm... Sure, I don't mind. I like having Tohka in the house anyway."

And as if on queue, from Goku's back—the door that was installed in Kotori's room entrance, Kachin, opened.

He turned around, wondering how long she had been standing there, from the hallway Tohka gave him a big smile before quickly running up to him, giving Goku a hug.

"Oooh, Goku! I had a feeling you weren't going to like me being here, but I was wrong!"

"Aahaha... Yeah..."

------------------------------------------------------

"So speaking of this training, you're not going to make me play another game are you?"

Goku, after finishing his abnormally large dinner, asked Kotori who was sitting on the living room sofa. 

The only ones left in the Itsuka family living room were Goku and Kotori.

After all that, Reine returned to <Fraxinus>. As for Tohka, after eating dinner, she proceeded toward the guest room. The accessories she used while staying in the isolated area of <Fraxinus> were delivered a little while ago. It seems she was unpacking her luggage now.

"Nothing in particular, it's okay to do nothing."

Kotori, who had her hair tied up with the black ribbon, said that while moving her lips, which had a finished rod hanging from her mouth (of course, it was not tobacco, but a lollipop).

"Huh? What do you mean? After saying all that stuff about training."

"Un——, speaking accurately, the theme this time is to lead an ordinary lifestyle... I think."

"Ah?"

"Basically, your training, based on the assumption that you will be dating all the Spirits from now on, is to manage to have a conversation with girls without being nervous."

Goku made a Pfft, before saying, "Nervous? Since when have I been nervous talking to girls?"

"Yeah, sure. Do you remember when you and Tohka had your... moment in the shower earlier?"

"Erm... yeah?"

"Reine told me that your heart rate had increased during that time."

"Oh."

"This time, we will be making the best of 'living together with a girl' as live combat training. The point is that even if you suddenly encounter a chest-tightening situation with a girl, you will stay calm and be able to behave gentlemanly and act accordingly. —Then again, you're quite the airhead, so I don't think a generic Rom-com cliché will really affect you that much, but if it does then you need to take this seriously." 

"Er, I don't think doing nothing is combat training..." 

"That's why Goku, during the time that you are living together with Tohka, no matter what kind of naughty event that will happen, it will be best if you keep your cool and not be flustered."

Goku's mouth formed into a ':/' before another question formed in his head. 

"Why do I even have to seduce the Spirits to begin with? Can't I just kiss them and be over with it?"

"Oh my, is forcing yourself on girls what you prefer, Goku? Gook luck in not having yourself ending up in jail."

"Wh—"

"——And besides, it's useless. If the Spirits don't open their hearts to you, they won't let you seal their powers completely."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes, and I don't particularly mean that they have to be deeply in love. At the very least, it will be hard if they don't trust you enough for them not to refuse the kiss. That's why Reine monitors the Spirits individually on their mood and positive feelings."

"Oohh... Okay."

And—Goku twisted his head.

For Kotori, it seems she began moving her lips normally. "...I see, I understand. Un...later..."

If he looked closely, in Kotori's right ear, he could see she was wearing a small intercom.

"Kotori? Who are you talking to?"

"——Aah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it—— more importantly Goku." Thus, Kotori jumped off the sofa and stood up.

"I want to go to the toilet."

"Huh? Why don't you just go then."

"From what I saw a while ago, the light bulb is out. Could you go on ahead and change it?"

"Oh—, Yeah. Sure. Give me a sec."

While Goku was thinking that Kotori was being a little suspicious, he pulled out a spare lightbulb from one of the shelves.

He then headed towards the toilet, and proceeded to open the door—

"Wha—?!"

His eyes opened as wide as they could in surprise.

But it was a natural thing to do. In any case— it was because his guest was there, on the toilet, under a brightly lit lightbulb.

"Wha... Goku?!"

Tohka was currently sitting there with her panties below her knees. "Tohka?! What are you doing over here??"

Weird. Wasn't the toilet door supposed to be locked?

"Tha-That's my line! Hurry up and close it!"

With Tohka's cheeks turning beet red, at the same time as having one hand pulling down her gown's hem, she violently grabbed the toilet paper, that was installed on the wall, and then threw it at Goku's face with all her might.

Goku quickly leaned to the side, dodging the attack. However Tohka was far from done, sending her fist flying toward an unfocused Goku's face, 

"Goah...!?"

sending him crashing into the floor as the toilet paper rolled on the ground, which drew a white line in the hallway.

And while Goku was gazing at the ceiling, Kotori appeared overhead. "That was pathetic. Even though I just told you not to panic and get flustered."

"I swear I didn't!"

Goku quickly replied, however, Kotori took out her phone from her pocket, facing it at Goku, which showed his heart rate being at 120, which is higher than it should be. 

Because of her daunting pose, as Goku laid on his back, her underwear was fully exposed, however, he didn't really care since it was his sister.

"...Kotori... This is all your fault isn't it..."

As Goku said that, Kotori took the lollipop by the stick, popped the candy out of her mouth, and held it up beside her lips. 

...What happen was that they had estimated when Tohka would enter the toilet, before sending Goku to attack. And what's more, they politely played with the door lock.

"——Your condition is always being monitored by the <Fraxinus>. Then the crew and AI will judge each of your corresponding success rates individually— And of course this time, you failed."

Goku sighed. Even that dating simulator was more enjoyable than getting beaten up by Tohka. 

"Wouldn't doing something like this make Tohka's mental state go down or something?"

"Ahhhh, well that's not a problem. There are a lot of things that will cause her emotions to swing. In these sorts of events, the chances that the Spirit powers reverse back to her are very low."

"But still... This feels kind of wr—"

And, while Goku was saying that, from his back, a screech sound echoed. Tohka opened the toilet door by a bit, and half of her fully red face peeked out. 

Even though it was Kotori's fault to begin with, Goku felt bad and quickly apologized.

"Erm, Sorry about that Tohka, It was an accident..."

After he said that, Tohka with cheeks that were blushing in embarrassment pointed that the white line across the hallway that she was focused on.

"...I forgive you... so um... could you please give me that...?"

Goku quickly took the toilet paper that fell on the ground, rolled it back up, and handed it to Tohka.

------------------------------------------------------

"Goku, the bath is ready, so go on ahead."

Was this another trap...?

He hadn't seen Tohka after he stepped out for a few minutes, so maybe Kotori was trying to get him to enter the bath with Tohka...

He closed his eyes, sensing that Tohka was in her room and not in the bathroom. 

Opening them back up, he shrugged and said,

"Alright. I'll be in there for a bit, then you can go." 

Maybe he was being a little too cautious. 

He prepared clothes and a bath towel randomly, before opening the changing room door of the bathroom. 

"..."

He slowly opened the door, looking left to right, just to make sure no one was in there, before entering the room and closing the door behind him.

He let out a sigh of relief and took his clothes off before entering the bath. He grabbed the bubble solution off the edge of the bathtub, and tossed it into the bathwater. 

He and Kotori used to use it all the time when they were younger, and even if it was a bit childish to use it now that he was older, he didn't care. If Kotori could still use it at her age, he didn't see any reason to not use it himself. (Even though he's older than Kotori)

And then he quickly washed his body before sinking his body into the bubble bath.

"Haaa..."

A long and relaxing sigh. 

"Today was... Interesting..."

He sunk his shoulders into the hot water, feeling as if he had just eaten a Senzu bean.

Goku took his time and slowly closed his eyelids.

How long had it been? Thirty? No... Sixteen years since he first got to this world. For the most part, it was an okay-ish life.

"—Fun,fufufufu—n,fufu-n~"

The sound of humming brought Goku out of his daze. "Hm?"

Goku rubbed his eyes, and looked toward the direction where the humming was coming from—

"..."

His eyes widened as his jaw dropped. He let his guard down thinking it'd be that easy.

But that was to be expected. Because right now, facing the glass that separates the bathroom from the changing room, he saw the faintly visible figure of a black-haired girl.

"Damn it... You planned this didn't you Kotori—?!"

Goku sighed. She used the same strategy from last time, but this time with the roles reversed... 

It was a very effective strategy. Because where was he supposed to run? 

Having finished removing her clothes, Tohka put her hand on the bathroom door. "—!"

Before Goku could do anything, Tohka slid the door open, and without checking, she vigorously jumped into the bathtub.

She then looked up to see Goku, sitting on the other side of the bathtub. 

"H-Hey Tohka..."

". . ."

After that in just a few seconds. "——!?"

Tohka's face was glowing as red as a tomato, and she raised a scream that didn't sound like a voice.

"Ca-Calm down, Tohka!!"

"—! Wh-where did you come from?!"

Tohka was about to grab Goku's head before he quickly swerved to the side causing her to lose her balance and fall straight into the water. 

She quickly popped out of the water, her face still bright red. 

"H-Hey!! Don't dodge me!!"

She then tried to grab Goku again, before slipping on the bottom of the tub, falling right onto her target. 

"Ow... Hey Tohka Are you—"

"—!"

Goku didn't even know how to process what was going on anymore. 

Because, right in front of him, Tohka was laying on him, with her chest pressed against his. 

Even he started to get flustered as Tohka slowly moved around trying to process what just happened. 

"Nn.....—Nu? WHA—!?"

In an instant, Tohka pushed herself off Goku before grabbing his large locks of hair, pushing the off-guard Goku into the water.

"TOH—gurgle —TOHKA!! CALM DOWN!! gurgle —!!"

After that Goku apologized for a long time before finally returning to his room, completely exhausted. 

He then dived into his bed and immediately fell asleep. 

------------------------------------------------------

"Un... Unnnn..."

Goku let out a slight moan, and on top of the bed, he lightly stretched his back. 

His eyes greeted the morning sunlight coming from the window, and the sounds of birds chirping entering into his ear.

"Mm... It's already morning huh..."

He spilled out a yawn while blinking his eyes, he turned to the other side of the bed. 

—And.

"Wha...? What this...?

He felt like his cheek touched something soft. Goku raised his eyebrows a little.

In order to find its identity, he slowly placed his hand around his head, and felt around.

...Was it a pillow?

When he did that, from the direction about his head. "Un..."

What the—

A cute voice was heard. "..."

Since when did pillows make sounds like that...?

Goku furrowed his eyebrows and gathered his thoughts.

He took a glance at his surroundings. In front of his eyes was a thin fleece cloth. And on the ceiling, he could see a lamp, that was different from his own room.

This was not Goku's room.

Judging from the room's interior... It looked like the guest room on the second floor which he somehow was in.

"Whi~ch me~ans..."

He slowly, very slowly, turned his gaze upward. "...Mu?"

Over there, as expected, was Tohka's beautiful appearance. 

She probably woke up moments ago. The instant Goku raised his sights upwards— their eyes met.

After a few awkward seconds.

"Erm...... Good morning?"

"Wha...?"

Goku and Tohka quickly choked at almost the same time— and quickly they both got up from that spot, splitting themselves apart and taking some distance— one towards the pillow side and the other towards the leg side of the bed.

"Wha-What are you doing, Goku! Why are you on my bed...!?" 

"I don't know! I don't even know why I'm in here...!!"

"The one asking should be me!!"

"You're rightttt!"

Goku, while in a confused flurry, shouted.

And at the time the door of the room opened, Kotori appeared. "Okay, Out! Calm down a little more, Goku."

"...Kotori?! Don't you tell me... You did this?!"

"Let me see what this is about. Isn't it about Goku being unable to restrain his overflowing libido of puberty, so he crawled into Tohka's bed? Stop making weird accusations about me." 

Kotori shrugged her shoulders while acting dumb, and said that with a small smile on her face. 

"Wha—"

Goku didn't understand half the words she said, but he was sure it was Kotori's fault.

From those words, Tohka's face blushed, and she pulled the blanket to cover her chest.

"T-Tohka I swear! I'm innocent!"

"Even if you say that, It's going to be troubling if you are going to panic from just touching Tohka's breast with your cheek."

"What do you... mean...?"

He sensed an uncomfortable feeling after hearing Kotori's words. he then twisted his back.

...Come to think of it, the moment he gained his awareness, he felt like he had touch an unusually soft kind of pillow.  

He timidly looked towards where Tohka was, her eyes were filled with circles.

And then, for some reason, she remembered a feeling from just now and started touching her body— after touching the area where her breasts are, her whole body stiffened up. 

"..."

"...i'm sorry."

Poof! It appeared as if smoke were about to rise, Tohka's face was completely red.

"U...Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

And then Tohka raised a tremendous scream and started grabbing things around her and throwing them randomly.

"Tohka! Calm down!!"

Goku easily was dodging all of the items she was throwing, before quickly running out of her room.

------------------------------------------------------

Tohka silently sat in her seat on the right side of Goku's desk and without looking at him, she moved her lips.

"...Err, about... this morning, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

It seemed she was still bothered about that matter this morning. Goku scratched the back of his head while making a bitter smile.

"Erm... Don't worry about it... Are you okay?"

"Mu..."

Tohka made a small nod. However, neither Goku nor Tohka realized this but, several classmates were listening in on their conversation and were sending them stares of interest. 

"Bu-But you were also at fault too. You suddenly...You know...I was surprised."

"Y-Yeah... I didn't realize it was touching until I decided to check."

Because of their words, everyone listening caught their breath.

Then, the two of them looked up, and finally noticed the gazes coming from everyone.

"Eh...?

"...Huh?"

Tohka gasped in surprise and sweat started falling down her cheeks. She had remember that yesterday at home it was explained to her that the face that Goku and Tohka were living together was a secret.

"I-It's not what you think everyone! It's not like Goku and I are living together!?"

"Y-Yeah! We totally didn't wake up on the same be—"

Goku quickly realized the words he was about to say, before quickly stopping himself, coughing as hard as he could before saying,

"A-Aaaah! I mean, in the morning when going to school we bumped into each other by coincidence! And erm, my breakfast accidentally got on her uniform, s-so I had to clean it up!! Were you okay Tohka?!"

"Mu...? U-Umu, no problem!"

Tohka seemed to guess what Goku intended, although it was difficult, they matched their lies together.

Goku continued to blabber until everyone felt satisfied. 

...Well everyone except a person on Goku's left side who wasn't... 

A female student was releasing a glare that would give anyone the chills.

"..."

Somehow, he felt like he would come out tattered. Goku made a deep sigh.

- However, that problem would be resolved at a surprising speed.

The 4th-period bell rang and echoed throughout the building, indicating that lunch break had started. And at the same time,

"Goku! It's lunchtime!" 

"..."

At Goku's desk- to the left and right, Jyan! tables were docked on both sides. And of course, on his right was Tohka, and on the left was Origami. 

"... Nu...What do you want? You're disturbing us."

"That's my line."

From Goku's left and right, sharp gazes were exchanged from both sides. "We-Well...Calm down. Why don't we just eat together?"

When Goku said that, reluctantly, Tohka and Origami quickly sat down. And then both of them took their own bentos from their respective bags. (With Tohka's being much larger)

Goku followed, bringing out his abnormally large bento and placing it on the table. All of them opened their lids together, and then—

"..."

He saw Origami's eyes widen a little bit.

Goku's bento was something that he made himself for this morning. And of course, with Tohka and Kotori being around, it was natural that it was up to him to make extra for them.

"..."

Origami gave Goku a cold look and compared Goku and Tohka's abnormally large bento boxes— checking the contents.

—The same menu was arranged inside both of their bentos, looking identical.

"Nu, wha-what? Even if you give me that look, I won't give it to you..."

Tohka didn't realize the seriousness of the situation and gave Origami a puzzled look.

"What is the meaning of this?"

When Origami asked her question, Goku twitched, trying to think of an excuse. 

"Uh... Erm... Actually, Tohka and I bought the same bento at the vendor earlier this morning—"

"Liar."

Origami interrupted Goku midway and then picked up Goku's bento box lid.

"154 days ago, you bought this at the 100 yen shop that is in front of the station for 98 yen, and you are still using it. This is not something from the lunch vendor."

Talk about being called broke in a smart way...

"How do you know something like that—"

"That isn't important now."

No, he thought that this was kind of an important question, but he was overpowered by Origami and wasn't in any position to say anything. Whenever he tried to say something, he'd be cut off.

"Muu, what were you talking about just now? Don't leave me out!" 

From the side, Tohka who was feeling left out, raised her voice, puffing up her cheeks.

And, at that moment.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—————

A loud alarm sounded and echoed throughout the who town.

In an instant, the noisy classroom during lunch break suddenly went quiet.

—It was the Spacequake alarm.

"..."

At that moment, Origami had shown an expression of hesitation, and then immediately stood up from her seat and left the classroom at amazing speed. 

—Saved by the bell...

While Origami was a student, she was also a talented fighter in the AST.

Meaning, she was heading to the battlefield right at this moment— to kill the Spirits, just like the situation with Tohka before.

Goku frowned. 

As much as he wanted Tohka to stop, she was too determined Even if he—

Over there at the classroom door, a girl's voice echoed in a dazed state.

"...Everyone, it's the alarm. Please evacuate to the underground shelter immediately."

The physics teacher dressed in a white coat— Reine, pointed her fingers towards the direction of the corridor.

After the students swallowed their saliva, they exited towards the hallway one by one.

"Nu? Goku, where is everyone going?"

Tohka asked while looking at the other classmates and tilting her head. "Aah... to the shelter. There's one under the school."

"Shelter...?"

"Yeah. For now, let's leave the explanation for later. Let's go Tohka." 

"Nu-Nuu."

Tohka regretfully glanced at her untouched bento, and stood up following Goku's instruction.

They followed the other classmates and exited to the hallway. "...Goku. You're coming this way." Reine caught Goku by the collar. "What? Why?"

"...Isn't it obvious? We're going to the <Fraxinus>."

When Goku questioned her, he made sure his voice wasn't loud enough for the other students to hear and Reine replied.

"Alright... I'll go, but what about Tohka?"

Speaking of Tohka, she was looking very confusedly at the classmates that were lining up for evacuation.

"...Aah, it's about that— Umu, we will have Tohka evacuate to the shelter with everyone else."

"Are you sure?"

"...Aah. With her powers currently in a sealed state, Tohka isn't that different from other humans. Also, if she sees the battle between the Spirit and the AST, she might be troubled if she remembers the time it happened to her. I told you right? <Ratatoskr> wants to avoid having Tohka accumulate stress as much as possible."

"I see... So that means—"

Right when Goku was about to say something, down from the direction of the corridor, a high-pitched voice echoed.

"H-Hey, Itsuka, and Yatogami, even Ms. Murasame too! P-Please don't just stop and stand over there! If both of you don't hurry and evacuate, the dangerous is danger!

Goku's homeroom teacher, Ms. Tamae, perked up her small shoulders and said that in a hurried state. The meaning of her words were confusing though.

"...Un, if we get caught we'll end up in an annoying situation. Let's go."

Reine made a signal with her eyes and faced her feet towards the entrance.

"Uh, yeah, wait a second—"

He quickly took Tohka's hand and placed it in Tamae's hand. 

"Teacher, I'm counting on you to take care of Tohka for me."

"Fue? Ah, ye-yes, of  course!"

Ms. Tamae was quickly entrusted with Tohka, while the latter curved her eyebrows in uneasiness.

"Tohka, listen to me, you need to get out of here with Teacher and the others to the shelter."

"What about you? What are you going to do Goku?"

"I have to do something important. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just go one without me, okay?"

"...! Ah! Go-Goku!

"Itsuka! Ms. Murasame too?! Where are the both of you going!?"

While hearing worried voices from the pair left behind, Goku and Reine ran outside the school building.

------------------------------------------------------

"—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 Goku 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 Goku remained silent, Kotori asked him a question while tilting her head.

"Goku, the real fight starts now. Are you ready for what's coming?"

"You're not saying I'm going to have to fight a Spirit, right?"

"What? Of course not you idiot, I'm asking you if you're ready to interact with [Hermit]."

"Oh— er, yeah, I am... Wait, who's—"

Goku was about to ask,  but over from the bridge, a loud sound from the siren echoed.

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

A male crew member's voice came from the lower bridge.

When Kotori heard them 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 onto the main monitor.

It was the main street which was lined with many shops. Of course, there were no human figures visible as if it were a ghost town. In the middle of that image, Warp.

Suddenly, the street that originally was empty, distorted, it was as if a ripple on the surface of the water was created by throwing a rock at it.

"This is a Spacequake, isn't it?"

"Ara, you know your stuff Goku."

The moment Kotori said that, the space distortion grew larger—

He thought that a small light was produced on the screen, and together with the sound of an explosion, the screen had turned pure white.

After a few seconds, the screen was a totally different scene than before.

In the town, a hole had opened up. There was no other way to express it.

A portion of the buildings that were supposed to be lined up, were shaved off into a shallow bowl shape.

Everything that was supposed to be there before, had disappeared.

What's more, maybe due to the after-effects, of the explosion, the surrounding area looked as if a huge hurricane had struck.

The mess resembled that place about one month ago when he first met Tohka.

He had never had the opportunity to see one for himself as he had always been inside the shelters with Kotori, and excluding his up-close encounter with one, this was his first time seeing it. 

He never understood the terror it caused. The town, the space where people live their daily lives, was destroyed all in an instant. He couldn't imagine how many people would die if it weren't for the shelters built around the city.

"So... This is a small one right?" 

"Yes, Goku. It seems like it."

A tall man behind Kotori, Vice Commander Kannazuki had replied.

"Good fortune— was what I wanted to say, but since this is the [Hermit], this much should be normal."

Although Goku understood most of what Kotori and the others were saying, he still had one question lurking in his head.

"What the heck is a Hermit??"

"Aah, it's the code name of the Spirit that just appeared."

"Ooo... That's cool. Do I have one?"

"Er, not at the moment. You are relatively new after all, but if I were to give you a code name, I'd name you [Moron]... Wait a sec— Can you zoom in on the screen?"

Kotori pointed her finger toward the crew members on the lower bridge.

When she did that, the image zoomed in, towards the crater that was right in the middle of town.

And with that, something changed on-screen.

Without warning, he thought that the screen turned darker, drip drip, and rain started to descend.

In the middle of the area which looked like a crater, they were able to detect the figure of a small girl.

"—?!"

A shock hit his chest as if it had been grabbed by an eagle's talons and passed throughout his entire body.

Standing still in the middle of the enlarged screen, was the figure of one girl.

And what's more— he recognized her.

Covered by a hood with rabbit ears like accessories, was a blue-haired girl.

She looked to be around 12 to 13 years old, wearing a large coat and innerwear made from a mysterious material.

And on her left hand, with a comical design, a rabbit puppet was equipped.

If Goku's brain was working properly... then that was without a doubt— The girl her had met yesterday on his way home from school. He closed his eyes and focused on the girl's energy, and it was indeed, the same girl.

"—? What's wrong Goku?"

Seeing Goku acting strangely, Kotori spoke in a dubious voice. Goku, after having his eyes closed for a little while, opened them and reasserted himself.

"I think I've met that girl before..."

"What did you say? When did this happen?"

"Uhh, yesterday, when I was on the way home from school, the rain started falling and—"

Goku going through his memories spoke briefly about the events that happened yesterday.

After hearing Goku talk for a while, Kotori pointed her fingers to the crew on the lower bridge.

"Send the Spirit wave reading from yesterday at 1600 to 1700 to my terminal, ASAP!"

And then she lowered her sights to the screen she was holding and scratched her head in frustration.

"...It didn't recognize the main numerical value of the disorder huh. It was the same with Tohka last time... Goku, why didn't you tell me this at home yesterday?"

"Well, you were 'Training' me for the entire evening, so I didn't even have time to tell you to begin with."

At the same time Goku was talking, the speaker that was installed on the <Fraxinus> bridge roared with a loud sound. 

"—Hm? Are the speakers broken or something?"

"—The Spirit did appear... So we aren't the only ones taking action."

"Oh... The AST, right?"

"Yes."

He glanced towards the screen— Smoke swirled around the place where the Spirit was which was now being called [Hermit]. Probably, a missile or some sort of explosive was launched at her.

And surrounding her, a small number of humans wearing heavy mechanical armor were floating around.

The Ground Self-Defense Forces' Anti-Spirit Team, in short, the AST.

Different from the organization, <Ratatoskr>, which was led by Kotori and the others, they were a special team holding military power that aimed to eliminate all Spirits.

Inside the smoke, a small silhouette Hop, jumped out— It was [Hermit].

The girl with her left hand tucked into a puppet came out. She twisted her body to escape from the surrounding AST members holding their ground and leapt into the sky.

The AST members immediately responded and pursued [Hermit] all at once.

And with the weapons that were installed into their armor, an innumerable amount of ammunition was fired.

"They'd shoot at a little girl...?"

Goku said with a frown.

"...What are you trying to say after all this time?"

As he said that, Kotori had said while having her eyes half open.

"Didn't you learn anything when this happened to Tohka? To the AST, it doesn't matter what appearance the Spirits take. The only thing that matters is their sense of duty to protect this world; To those people, they would reject any dangerous existence and follow their survival instincts like animals."

"But still!"

The moment Goku opened his mouth, from the smoke, the girl leaped into the sky once more.

"She isn't even fighting back..."

"This isn't unusual. Even among the Spirits [Hermit] is a very docile type."

"Then why can't they just—"

"If you're asking for the AST to have mercy, it's useless— As long as that girl is a Spirit, they won't stop."

"..." 

Goku frowned.

He couldn't really blame the AST. As Kotori said, they were only doing this to save the world. But still... To attack a girl that didn't even want to fight... 

"...Kotori. I want to help her. I want to save that girl."

"—Fufu..."

Kotori looking happy, made her candy rod stand up. "Now that is —— My Onii-chan."

She turned to face the crew on the lower bridge and shouted. "All members prepare for a Level One capture!"

"ROGER!"

The crew members began manipulating their consoles all at once. While Kotori was gazing upon this scene, she licked her lips.

"Now then—— let's start our date."

------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Ms. Tamae."

Tohka who had evacuated to the established large-type underground shelter in the school, as if to suppress her rustling feelings, grabbed the hem of her skirt tightly and asked Tamae who was sitting right beside her.

"Ya-Yatogami even you have started calling me that..."

Tamae faced towards Tohka and had now calmed down to a degree compared with a while ago.

But Tohka, disregarding Tamae's sigh of rejection, continued her words. "That sound just now, what was that? What on Earth is this place?"

"Wha-What are you saying? That alarm just now was the Spacequake alarm. Because there might be a chance a Spacequake might occur, everyone has been evacuated to the underground shelter since it will be safe here."

"Spacequake...? What is that?"

Tohka tilted her head, and Tamae wore a 'surprised' expression. "Eh? What is a Spacequake? You don't know?"

"...Muu."

After being told that, Tohka made an awkward and unhappy face.

It would seem that this 'Spacequake' thing, was a word that everyone knows. There might be a chance that she had asked a bad question. Tohka had been warned by Goku to avoid doing things that might stand out. 'To  not know what is going on is okay but try to avoid crossing the line that could sound too suspicious.'

And, not knowing how to handle the silence, Tamae shook her hands in panic. "Ah, no no, it's alright. I guess that there are still people that don't know."

"...Nu, sorry."

Tamae said [no no] once more, and raised her finger.

"A Spacequake is a general term for the occurrence of a large-scale disaster. Well, in simple words, one day suddenly in the world somewhere, DON, an explosion will occur. Although there are many theories taught like the 'Atmospheric Pressure Alteration theory' or 'Plasma theory' but the real cause has still not been clarified."

"—An explosion, you say?"

Through Tamae's explanation, Tohka raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. The biggest one to date was around 30 years ago. The Eurasia Sky Disaster. There were around 150 million casualties, it was the worst disaster since the dawn of history."

"Wha-What's up with that, wasn't that dangerous!"

"Yes. That is why everyone evacuates to the Shelters— Well, although there haven't been any Spacequakes that big since then— in this neighborhood, for the past few years there have been small-scale explosions occurring frequently."

From Tamae's lecture, Tohka's eyebrows came together closely.

"The-Then why isn't Goku here at this dangerous time, where did he go?" "Eh...? Eh, errrr... that is..."

Tamae, adjusting her glasses awkwardly, looked over to the other students that were sitting around.

While remaining silent, Tohka started gripping the hem of her skirt that was in her hands more tightly.

"...Goku."

Thump Thump

Around the area of her chest, she heard these sounds.

For some reason, she didn't know...She had a bad premonition. And then, when the throbbing in her heart reached a climax. 

"...Uh."

Tohka immediately raised her face.

"Errrr... I-It's okay. Although I can't see him around here....I think he most probably forgot something and went back to get it. He should be back here by now, somewhere around here in the Shelter..."

And, Tamae who was surveying the inside of the Shelter returned her sights to Tohka.

"Ara...? Ya-Yatogami?"

She looked at where Tohka was standing before but, her figure disappeared.

------------------------------------------------------

"Uhh, it's this way, right?"

Goku who had been sent to the ground using the teleporter, was following the voice in the small intercom that was equipped to his right ear.

"Yes. The Spirit is already inside the building. Don't make a mistake with the first contact."

"Alright. How hard can it be?"

Goku said that with a smirk, removing his hand from the intercom.

Right now, he was in a large department tower just outside the shopping district.

It would seem that the [Hermit], was a Spirit that had a fairly high appearance rate— By using moment pattern statistics, which also incorporated the results of Reine's thought analyses, they could predict the Spirit's most probable route.

And of course, due to the movements of the AST, there might be a chance that the route would change. If that happens they would recover Goku, and then head towards the next predicted location— However, at this moment this department store location was ideal.

The AST's main equipment— the CR unit was unsuitable for indoor combat.

And naturally, there might be a chance that they would destroy the building to smoke out the Spirit like that time they did to Tohka. But for the time being, they should be waiting for the Spirit to come out from the building on its own.

And therefore during this time, without the AST knowing, it was a precious opportunity for Goku to sneak onto the battlefield and converse with the Spirit, even if only for a few minutes.

In the middle of April, while wearing this intercom, the <Fraxinus> lost contact with Goku, meaning he had to converse with Tohka all alone, but this time there wasn't any interference which meant he had all the help he could get to talk to the Spirit.

"—Goku. The [Hermit]'s signal has entered the area."

"—!"

The unexpected voice echoed by Kotori, made Goku bring up his guard. And, at that instant.

"—You, hav' ya come here to bully Yoshinon too...?"

"...Uh!?"

And suddenly a voice echoed from overhead, to which Goku quickly raised his head.

Over there was [Hermit], currently floating upside down as if she was defying the laws of gravity.

"You're wrong— Since Yoshinon is a kind girl who hasn't done anything mische— Eh, unn?"

Suddenly, the girl's body that was upside down, flipped around in mid-air, righting herself, before landing on the ground and standing there. 

And then, clatter clatter, she moved the puppet's mouth.

"oOOYaa? I was wonderin' who it was but aren't ya that lucky pervert Onii-chan?"

After looking at Goku with a serious face, the puppet skillfully pon, smacked her hands together.

Immediately, from his right ear came Kotori's voice, "Wait for a moment. Right after [Hermit]'s words.

① "Aah, it's been a while. How are you?" Frankly give a normal greeting.

② "Lucky Pervert? What do you mean by Lucky Pervert, Huh!" Give a witty comeback. [2B 2]

③ "Hmph. I am just a wanderer passing by." Go with the 'Hard-Boil' act.

Looking at the 3 choices displayed on the <Fraxinus> bridge's main monitor, Kotori licked her lips.

By the way— on the bridge monitor, all sorts of other parameters were being displayed, including an enlarged projection of the [Hermit]'s bust, various stats and text windows.

Together with Kotori's command, the crew from the lower bridge pushed buttons on their hand.  

All together— ①,②,③, all received roughly the same number of votes. 

The entire crew argued over which option should be picked, and after hearing the opinions from all 3 directions, Kotori touched her jaw and groaned,

And then, facing towards the mic, she opened her lips. "—Goku, pick ③."

"Wait... Why does this feel like that dating sim..."

"Just say it!"

The puppet skillfully tilted its head. This wasn't the time to argue.

Goku immediately thought of his son Goku, when he was a teenager acting as 'The Great Saiyaman.'

Keeping that in mind, he quickly grabbed a chair on a display nearby, putting one of his legs on the chair.

"Hmph! I am just a wanderer passing by......"

Swoosh

After conceitedly saying that, he started to puff up his chest.

"..."

The puppet that [Hermit] was controlling, Deadpan with its mouth wide open, kept quiet.

"...Uhm..."

"Fu..., Ha-Hahahahahahahah!"

The puppet, clatter clatter, shook its head while laughing.

"Whaaat? Onii-chan are you trying to be funny? No one talks like that these days."

"Ahh... I'm glad you liked it."

Goku followed the puppet's lead laughing dryly. He didn't understand how Gohan could put on such a silly persona.

"Erm, yeah. Sorry about that."

The prideful Kotori replied with a small voice, and Goku returned his gaze back to [Hermit].

As if matching him, the puppet met Goku's gaze.

"Iyaa—, but I'm lucky, pervert Onii-chan. We meet again in such a weird place— Ahaha, I welcome people like ya Onii-san— It seems that everyone hates Yoshinon. If I were to leave this place, they would probably start attacking me again——" 

After saying that, it once again started laughing.

"Well, that's one surprisingly, cheerful Spirit."

From his right ear, Goku's heard the same words he was thinking about. As expected, even Kotori thought of the same thing.

And inside [Hermit]'s words, there was a word that caught his interest. He opened his mouth a little.

"So... Who exactly is Yoshinon?"

"Ah, what a mistake! For Yoshinon of all people, to forget my own introduction! Yoshinon is Yoshinon's naa~mee. Cute right? Cute right?"

"Aahh, yeah. It's a nice name."

When he did that, from his right ear he heard Kotori's dubious voice.

"—Yoshinon, huh? Fuun, this Spirit is different from Tohka— she has information of her own name.

"Ah..."

"Hm so? What is Onii-chan's name?"

"Oh—right. My name is Goku. Itsuka Goku."

"Goku huh? Sounds like a name from a manga, which is cool! But it doesn't beat Yoshinon thought~~"

"O-Oh, thanks. Errr... Yoshinon?"

"Hai Hai— What's up? —This is what Yoshinon is impressed by —Goku's frontier Spirit —making clever conversation —and using the name you just remember a moment ago——"

After giving back a soft smile to the puppet that was making an exaggerated smile by opening its hand wide, Goku continued his words.

"It's not that important, but errr... Is Yoshinon you? ...Or you."

Goku pointed to the puppet, before pointing towards the blue-eyed girl.

"Uun, ya silly goose— Yoshinon is Yoshinon! How could ya forget!"

The puppet ecstatically said, while pointing to itself.

"I-I see..."

Goku replied with a dry smile, then Kotori's voice echoed in his ear.

"Goku, you know what you have to do now, right?"

"Uhhh... what do I have to do?"

"Isn't it clear? You're inside a large department store you know? Since you have time, you should be able to date, right? Do you understand? Listen— It's not [Why don't we have a date?]— It's [—Let's go on a date.], that is the goal. Don't the opponent the option to pick.

"Haa... Okay..."

Goku cleared his throat, returning to face Yoshinon. "Let's go on a date?"

And without any preamble, he repeated the line exactly as heard. "...Without any setup. Can't you have played it a bit more smoother?" Kotori said disappointedly.

Yoshinon didn't seem to react. No, rather the tension seemed to have risen, making it hard to say anything. 

clap clap

The puppet clapped its small hands together.

"HoHo~~! That's nice—— Regardless of how ya look, ya're pretty gusty to give an invitation out like that. Ufuun, of course, it's an O-K. Rather,  I finally encountered a human that I can have a decent conversation with. So it's more like Yoshinon to be the one wishing for it~~"

With that said, clatter clatter, it laughed.

"Alright... I guess that's a yes."

"...Well,  I guess everything turned out all right in the end."

While hearing Kotori's voice mixed with her sigh, Goku together with Yoshinon, began walking around the department store together.

------------------------------------------------------

Origami, whose whole body was wrapped by a wiring suit and stocked with ammunition for her auto-range weapon, was patrolling the sky above the department store.

Around her surroundings, there were a few other AST members with the same equipment flying around, and they were all bracing themselves.

AST- Anti-Spirit Team, as a special unit of the JGSDF, they were a team with remarkable and highly special characteristics.

Prepared with a machine that can turn fantasy into reality— the Realizer. They are the team formed to counter the calamity that could destroy the world— the Spirits.

However, only a limited number of humans could use the Combat Realizer unit in practical combat— this limit resulted in the recruitment of irregular members like Origami.

Living in a house outside the garrison, moreover, she was allowed to go to school and only dispatched when there was an emergency.

Even though she received this special treatment, she was a JDSF member whose dispatch frequency was extremely high.

Raindrops were continuously pelting the surface of her deployed Territory. (Basically a force field)

That Spirit— it has been almost an hour since [Hermit] first entered the building. But, [Hermit] was still hiding inside; even now she hasn't made an appearance. "Looks like she's being very persistent."

And through her transmitter, she heard the voice of her team captain, Kusakabe Ryouko.

"This is rare even for [Hermit]. To be staying in one spot like this. Normally she would have been spotted Hop*Hop  jumping around the place by now."

Yes. [Hermit]'s only movement pattern was mostly just running away.

Every time Origami and the others had launched an attack, she would just run around, without even fighting back.

But, if she gained the knowledge that by passing time inside buildings could result in a [Lost]——to Origami this was not an amusing matter.

"The permission to attack?"

Origami asked in a soft voice, and Ryouko replied with a hint of a sigh in her voice: "——I did try asking for permission, just in case but they said to remain on standby." "Even if the building structure was to collapse, there is the possibility for repairs."

"... Well, if you were to think about it logically, that would seem to be the case. But it isn't that simple. Somebody has to pay for the repair unit, it isn't free— If this situation was like the [Princess] class, like last time then it would be okay —But this time the target is just the weakling [Hermit] class, you know?"

"..." [Princess].

From that code—name, Origami twitched her eyebrows a little.

Not knowing the exact details of what she went through but the Spirit that held that code—name was now, the human girl—Yatogami Tohka, who was attending the same high school as Origami.

Of course, Origami having confirmed Tohka's existence, had informed Ryouko about it.

But for some reason, they couldn't detect a Spirit reading coming from her, thus the assault permission wasn't granted.

Asking for the impossible and then having her family register investigated, they were unable to find anything suspicious.

At the very least, at this time— although Origami was extremely dissatisfied— she was a Japanese citizen, an existence that was Origami's duty to protect. And so— "...?"

Origami narrowed her eyes unexpectedly.

At that moment, from the corner of her eye, she felt she saw the shimmer of beautiful black hair.

Yes. It was as if she saw Tohka over there.

Looking down— at the area that had become uninhabitable; she faced the main street that was under a heavy downpour.

But, she was unable to confirm Tohka's presence.

Origami shook her head silently. It would seem like she was becoming edgy. If she were to let the Spirit slip away like this, it would be embarrassing. Origami took in a light breath, refocusing herself, and continued her patrol.

------------------------------------------------------

—Sometime had passed since he met Yoshinon.

Goku and Yoshinon were having a lively conversation while walking around inside the department store.

As normal sometimes Kotori would whisper some instructions into his ear— oddly enough Yoshinon has a low susceptibility towards gags; no matter how lame it was clatter clatter , she would still laugh.

In reality, the <Fraxinus> bridge was monitoring her mental condition, and good values were being reported. And at the moment, things were developing favorably.

"—Fumu, this is going beyond my expectations"

Kotori said those words.

"It might be that she had the characteristics that attract people. The favorable impression is also great. Even if I say to kiss her right now, she won't refuse right?"

"Ehh... I don't know about that..."

Goku was a little shocked by how smoothly it was going. 

Although he was able to talk to Tohka normally now, the first time they met she had a serious cast of distrust against humans— each time she got the wrong idea he would encounter a life-or-death situation.

...But.

"As I thought being able to chat sure is F~u~N. It seems like those other people are so boorish—"

"Ha... yeah."

The puppet clatter clatter opened its mouth and said those words, and he replied in a strangled tone.

Goku was a little weirded out by the fact [Hermit] only talked through the puppet, but he was playing along so as to not possibly upset the girl. 

It was like she was the string puller for the puppet at a stage theater.

"——Ooo?"

"...Hm?"

And Goku suddenly looked up, when the puppet unexpectedly turned its face towards him.

"Amazing!! What's that—!"

The puppet excitedly clapped its hands and ran toward the place it had pointed out

—Well, of course, the one doing the running was that person herself.

The object that caught Yoshinon's interest, was the thing assembled in one corner of the toy store, a small jungle gym that was made for little kids.

At the excessively colorful strengthen plastic castle, she skillfully climbed up with only her hands and legs.

And when she reached the top of it.

"Wahaha! How is it Goku~? Am I cool? Is Yoshinon Cool~?"

Such a voice was bounced right down at him. "You should be careful, you might hurt yourself."

The jungle gym was designed for indoor use and for children. Even if it wasn't that big, she might hurt herself if she were to fall from the top.

No, although he knew she could fly, for some reason in Goku's mind, he recalled yesterday's image of her [Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddeee!].

He quickly ran over to the base of the jungle gym. But the girl shook the puppet's hand unsatisfied.

"unMou, even though I was asking if I was cool or not— and, wa-wawawa...!?" 

It might be that her balance broke when she did that action, on top of the jungle gym Yoshinon flapped her arms as if she was dancing, and then fell right on top of Goku.

And just like that, while breaking Yoshinon's fall, the crashed onto the floor. "Uh...ihee..."

While his face was facing upward, he let out that sound. And for some reason, his front tooth hurt a little.

And—his eyes widened as big as they could. 

Somehow, the girl with blue hair, her graceful facial features were there— right in front of him.

—And just right around the area of his lips, an oddly soft sensation was felt.

"——Umh???"

After a few seconds, he understood the current situation that he was being put under right now.

"...Wow. Good going, Goku!"

Even Kotori thought that this development was unexpected. She let out a surprised voice.

That was expected. Because right now Goku was— with the girl that fell from above, he just managed to perfectly exchange a kiss with her.

—Keeping quiet, the girl raised her body. And at that moment, their lips finally separated.

Unexpectedly... they kissed.

But with this, her powers should be sealed.

But... wondering why, compared to last month, during the time when he exchanged kisses with Tohka— this time there wasn't a warm feeling flowing into his body or how'd you put it?—

—And, once again from the other side of the intercom, a loud siren resounded. "Wha...?"

He let out his voice while raising his eyebrows- shouldn't her power have been sealed?

But this sound was, when the Spirit's mood was breaking apart, something that would ring when danger was approaching Goku.

This meant that Yoshinon was now—

"Ouch ouch— ...Sorry sorry, Goku. I was careless——"

But when the girl, clatter clatter,  moved the puppet, she spoke calmly. 

"Eh...?"

Confused he opened his eyes, at Yoshinon, who was not showing any signs of anger.

If that was the case, then what was that loud alarm blasting in his ear for?

"——Goku, it's an emergency ...And mostly likely, the worst possible kind."

And Kotori said, with an unusually panicked voice.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

And. From behind, step, the sound of a foot firmly stepping onto the ground, Goku shook his shoulders.

Timidly, he turned around his head to look backward. And over there was an expected face.

"To-Tohka...?"

His eyes widened as he called the name of the girl who was standing there.

Yes, the person standing there right now was Tohka, who was supposed to be in the underground shelter.

And what's more, maybe it was due to all the rain, her body was dripping wet. As if she had been running at full speed just now, she was now breathing heavily.

"——Goku."

As if to obstruct Goku's thinking, Tohka's body swayed, and while swaying she let out her voice.

He wonder why— with her only just calling out his name, instinctively caused a shiver to run down his spine. 

He then realized, her power was much higher than it should be. Around 9000 to be exact. 

—That shouldn't be possible unless...

"...What did you just do now?"

"...Eh? Wh-What do you mean?"

At that question, he touched his lips without thinking— and immediately regained his thought, he quickly removed his hand.

But Tohka wasn't pleased with that response, while making an expression like a grumbling kid, she squeezed out her shaking voice from deep down her throat.

"—Aft-After making me so worried..."

"Huh?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING FLIRTING AROUND WITH A GIRLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!"

STOMP————!!

Tohka shouted, and the moment her foot struck the ground, in the middle of the floor where she stood, CLANG! And, it collapsed forming a small crater; cracks were spreading outwards from the epicenter.

"Wha-Huuhhh...?!"

An ordinary high school girl, couldn't break the floor simply by just stomping on the floor.

And of course, although Tohka wasn't an ordinary high school girl... her Spirit power should have now been sealed— Following that logic, in this current situation the power she was displaying should only be her physical strength...

"Wha-What's going on, Kotori...?"

When he asked that, Kotori replied with a sigh through the intercom.

"That's why......this is what we've been trying to tell you from before. Between you and Tohka a link is passing through you two, and if Tohka's mental state becomes unstable, we fear that some of her powers will reverse back into her."

"S-So you're saying Tohka is stressed right now?"

"Yes, and so, before the situation gets any worse, you should go fix Tohka's mood somehow."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do—"

During the time he was saying that Tohka managed to reach the base of the jungle gym where Goku and Yoshinon were entangled.

And then she alternated her piercing gaze between the both of them, [mumumu...] she murmured while remaining tightlipped.

Then, glare!  sending a look towards Goku, followed by a glare at Yoshinon she extended a pointed finger at her.

"...Goku. The important task you said you had to do, was it to meet with this girl here?"

"Ah, no, about that..."

No well, although according to those words, it was certainly true but should he reply with a 'Yes' now, he didn't know if telling her the truth would help at all.

And, that time. "...Iyaa, iyaa... I get it now..."

The Yoshinon who had been staring blankly at Tohka since she first made her appearance, let out its high-pitched voice.

On the Puppet's rabbit face, was a prankster-like smile- he wondered how that got there.

"Onee-san? Err——" 

"...It's Tohka."

When the puppet said that, Tohka replied in a discouraging tone.

"Then Tohka-chan— Although I feel bad for you but it would seem that Goku has lost interest in you."

"Wha—?"

"—!?"

Tohka and Goku both gasped at the same time and then faced towards the puppet.

"Iiyaa see, how do I put it? Hearing your conversation, it looks like he broke Tohka-chan's promise and then came to visit Yoshinon right? Isn't this crux of the story?"

"...Uh."

Tohka twitched her shoulders and made a face like she could cry at any moment.

"That's not true at——mguuhhhh!?"

When Goku raised his voice towards the Puppets remark—— Tohka, grabbed him by the mouth with both hands.

"Will you keep quiet for a while Goku?"

While releasing a force that would not allow him to consent or refuse, using an unbelievable amount of strength she clamped her grip on his cheekbone.

"......."

The puppet was in a pleasant mood and with an [it can't be helped like] tone, continued speaking.

"liyaa—, Sis—, sorry, but this is probably Yoshinon's fault— her appearance is too charming~"

"Gu-Gugu..."

"It really isn't that I am talking bad about Tohka-chan you know? Buut— I can't really blame Goku for leaving behind Tohka-chan and running towards Yoshinon~"

"U-Ugahhh!!"

For a period of time, while Tohka was still gripping Goku's face and suppressing her trembling shoulders, having reached her limits she screamed.

And finally, she took her hands off Goku's face.

"Sh-Shut up! Shutup shutup shutup! That's no good! That kind of thing is no good!"

"Eehh-, even if say it's no good. HoraaHoraa, Goku how about saying it clearly, that Tohka-chan is already an unwanted child."

"—!"

That instant, Tohka suddenly grabbed onto the puppets collar.

And of course, since the puppet was small, it was easily removed from the girl's hand, it was then held up in the air.

"—!?"

And, to the girl that had her puppet taken away from her, her eyes began to swirl.

The next moment her eyeballs flickered, her face turned pale white, and sweat appeared on her face. Incidentally, it was visible that her breathing has gotten rougher, and her fingers started to shake.

"H-Hey are you okay...?"

Goku, while he was rubbing his cheeks that were still in pain, and to the girl that had shown such a fast change, he gave a concerned look.

But, it would seem that Tohka did not realize the state that the girl was in. Her attention was on the puppet that she was grabbing onto with both her hands, like a knife she gave a sharp gaze, and drew closer to it.

"I...I am NOT an unwanted child!... Goku said... ...Goku said that I... He said that it was okay for me to be here! Any more insults and I will not forgive you!

HEY! How about saying something!?"

Probably thinking that the puppet was the one that let out the voice, she grabbed the neck of the rabbit and shook it.

"...!...!"

Looking on at that situation, the girl began letting out a cry that doesn't sound like a voice.

As if the calm demeanor she held just now was a lie, her whole body was trembling like a Chihuahua.

And then the girl, fixing back her hood to cover her eyes as if she were trying to avoid being seen, in a nervous manner, tugged at Tohka's shirt.

"Nu. Wha-What? Don't disturb me. I am talking to this her right here, right now." 

"——Gii...ve... back...please..."

To try and take back the puppet, that Tohka was lifting high up with both her hands, the girl Hop Hop was jumping up and down.

Speaking of which, it might be the first time since yesterday that he had heard her real voice.

"—What are you doing Goku? Yoshinon's mental condition is deteriorating. Hurry up and stop it!"

And, from his right ear, Kotori's voice echoed.

While scratching the back of his head Goku, spoke timidly with his voice shaking: "Erm... Tohka, how about you give Yoshinon back to her?"

"...Uh!"

When he did that Tohka, at Goku's words, her eyes opened wide in shock. "Goku...As I thought...you picked this girl instead of me...."

"What?? No— It's not like that—"

And, at the same time. "...[Zadkiel]..." 

"—!"

As he thought that, the girl suddenly raised her right hand into the air and then swung it down, right below her.

In an instant, from the floor it broke through- a giant doll appeared at that spot. 

"What the heck!?"

The whole body should be around 3 meters in length; in short, it was a plushie toy that took the size of a fully sized rag doll. The outer body was made of smooth gold-like material, and white patterns were carved here and there on it.

And also at the part that appears to be its head, long rabbit-like ears could be glimpsed.

"A doll??" 

"—Wha...is this—!?"

Goku and Tohka let out their voices at the same time.

The girl, clinging onto the back of the doll that appeared right under her own feet, and in the two holes located on its back she inserted both her legs into them.

The next moment- the doll's eyes shone red, and while shaking its slow-witted body, GuUUUUOOOOOO, it raised a low roar.

And with that, white smoke started coming out from the doll's body. "Cold...!?" He drew back his legs instinctively.

That smoke was similar to liquid nitrogen, was something at subzero temperatures. "—The manifestation of the Angel at this time...!? Goku, this is bad, run away!" 

"R-Right!"

Suddenly, Kotori's voice rang in Goku's right ear, to which he replied.

Thus, when he thought that the girl pulled her hands back, the doll— [Zadkiel] together with a low roar, bent its body.

When it did that, the department store's windows started breaking, one window after another, and allowing rain to enter and land on the interior shop floor.

No— to be precise, it was a little different.

It wasn't that the windows broke which allowed the rain to enter, it felt more like, the raindrops pelted the window glass with tremendous force from outside until it forced its way in.

"Eh...!?"

Goku opened his eyes wide in shock as he looked at the doll rising in front of him. —Twist, the doll turned its face towards Tohka.

"...! Tohka!"

Goku shouted quickly and pulled Tohka's hand, and while he was holding on to her body he caused them to fall to the ground.

"Wha...Goku!?"

Tohka's voice shook his eardrums. However, at the same time as she spoke, in the place where Tohka was standing moments ago, a large number of bullet-like objects zoomed passed.

All those bullets showily pierced through the merchandise shelves around them, after that, all of it turned into transparent liquid and flowed onto the ground.

"Is that... Rain...?!"

Yes. From the broken windows, hardened raindrops like hailstones, ignored gravity and were released at Tohka.

And— over there, [Zadkiel] driven by the girl moved. "...Uh."

In an instant to protect Tohka, he turned his back towards [Zadkiel].

But, [Zadkiel] kicked the ground performing a keen maneuver that did not match its slow-moving silhouette, it passed through the spot where Tohka was just now, and just like that it jumped outdoors through the broken windows.

At the midway point of this maneuver— the puppet that fell on the ground from Tohka's hand, was eaten up into the mouth area of the doll.

Shortly afterward, Goku turned his back and his sights away from the girl, he opened his mouth a little.

"How's it going, Kotori?"

"...You're safe now. The signal has completely withdrawn. You're pretty reckless aren't you, Goku?"

From his right ear, he heard that voice. "Man... but why did that suddenly—" While he was in the middle of speaking—

"Enough is enough hurry up and get away...!"

His face got pushed away and Goku rolled onto the ground from that spot. "Nowah...!?" There was no need to think of the reason. It was Tohka who was in Goku's arms just now.

Her face was blushing and she was clenching her teeth, she made an expression equal to a spoiled child, she then with her shoulders shaking angrily, stood up.

"...! Don't touch me!"

"Ouch..."

Goku frowned in pain, and then when he withdrew his hands, in that instant Tohka made a surprised face.

She probably broke one of his ribs, or maybe two...

But immediately after that she became [mumumu..........], pui and she turned her face away.

"What happened to you, Tohka...?"

"Shut up! Don't talk to me! I-Instead of me, that girl is more important right...!" 

"Huh? What are you talking about—"

When Goku made a confused voice, Tohka started kicking the ground with frustration.

"U-U-U-UUuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!" 

"Tohka! Calm down...! Uwaa...!?"

With each kick, another crack was put into the floor, and it caved in. 

------------------------------------------------------

"—All members of AST report in. There is movement by the Spirit. Resume attack at will when sighted."

From her eardrums, Origami's whole body which was wrapped in a wiring suit, heard the transmitted incoming communication.

"—Roger."

When Origami replied, she fixed her firing posture with both her hands gripping the Anti-Spirit Gatling gun [Auldist].

The latest equipment, a long-range type weapon designed to rapidly fire a large number of bullets from outside the opponent's range.

The rain that started falling at the same time as when [Hermit] appeared, which had been bouncing off the outer surface of her personal territory, had not affected their preparations outside the building, as she continued gazing at the Spirit readings that were directly being shown onto her retina.

In that instant.

—GON, together with that sound, the Spirit blasted a hole in the building wall, and a cloud of dust was raised.

At the same time together with all that, the Spirit readings lit up on the retina screen."-Fire" At the same time as the echo of captain Ryouko's command, Origami and the others pulled their triggers all at once.

A terrible rumbling sound resounded as the building was riddled by hundreds of bullets, and a dreadful cloud of dust was raised into the air.

"..."

Origami, while still resting her finger on the trigger, narrowed her eyes.

Due to her Territory providing her with enhanced superhuman eyesight, she caught sight of a shadow moving at high speed within the cloud of dust.

Origami while remaining silent issued out her orders from inside her mind.

As if responding to her will, the small missiles located within the leg compartments of her equipment activated, from the left and right leg, each loaded with 10 rounds, homing missiles were launched aimed at [Hermit].

"—!?"

The Spirit who was in the middle of having Anti Spirit Gatling bullets shot at her- the [Hermit], immediately turned her eyes towards the homing missiles that were approaching her and made a surprised expression.

"—!"

When [Hermit] pulled both her hands, the doll lightly danced into the air and shook off the pursuing homing missiles.

But, by that time it was already too late, the remaining AST members, had locked on to the Spirit's figure.

From behind the homing missiles, and with the barrage of Gatling bullets coming from all directions. Avoiding all of that would be impossible.

"Kya——!"

At the same time, Origami heard a small cry from somewhere with her super hearing, a tremendously loud explosion occurred where all the bullets had impacted at once.

Most probably, most of the attacks would be nullified by the Astral Dress that was covering the Spirit— even the [Hermit] would most likely come out uninjured not to mention a [Princess] class Spirit.

Currently, at the point of impact, they confirmed that the giant doll was falling down.

"—Okay! Don't rest your hands from attacking! Shoot! Shoot!" Ryouko's orders echoed. But—

The finger that Origami was resting on the trigger twitched.

They confirmed that the Spirit body of the giant doll vanished and dissolved into space. "We Lost...her?"

From someone's whisper, had been sent and heard by the entire AST team members.

When the Spirit returns to the other side, which they called the other dimension— they classify it as [Lost].

Although the AST had the goal of eliminating the Spirits with military power, it is incredibly hard to completely defeat a Spirit which has huge battle abilities; generally, when this [Lost] condition occurs, the operation has been deemed a success.

And, therefore, the clouds drifted away and daylight shone down. The rain that was hitting the Territory stopped promptly.

"—All members, we're all returning to base." "..."

From Ryouko's voice, Origami lowered her gun muzzle and deactivated her weapon systems. But, during the time when she followed Ryouko's back and returned to base— 

"..?"

From her eyesight that was improved because of her Territory, something peculiar caught her eye, and she lowered her altitude temporarily to investigate.

END OF CHAPTER