"Wha..." Shidou couldn't even cry out as his eyes grew wide in surprise and confusion. He simply stared at this strange sight.
The girl was so gorgeous, a shiver ran up his spine.
Her jet-black hair was tied back in asymmetrical braids. A dress the color of blood and shadow coiled around her slender body. But her most unusual feature was undoubtedly her eyes. Two different colors set in her beautiful face. A close look revealed the face of a clock in her left eye, complete with hands that marked the passage of time with a steady tic-tic-tic.
"Tokisaki?!" Shidou squeezed the girl's name out of his throat.
She was his classmate, Lucas' best friend and the one of the most powerful beings he knew. But her appearance alone wasn't everything surprising. Usually, Kurumi always accompanies Lucas. But this time, she was alone. Guessing something happened, Shidou asked straight up. "...What happened to Lucas..?"
"....He's..." Kurumi definitely felt like it was a burden, but she couldn't hide that information to Shidou. "He's in very poor condition and is recovering for now."
"Wha-?!"
A few hours earlier in Tenguu Square, the venue for the Tenou Festival, They had faced off against Izayoi Miku, a Spirit who controlled sound and voice. Through her Angel Gabriel, Miku had gained total control over Yoshino, Kaguya, Yuzuru, and all the spectators in the venue.
On top of that, Kotori and her crew had also turned on him, after hearing a certain sound through the speakers, no doubt. And right when things seemed like they couldn't get any worse, DEM Wizard Ellen burst onto the scene, obliterated Lucas and made off with Tohka.
Although Shidou had just barely made it out in one piece and managed to hide himself in an abandoned building on the outskirts of town, there was nothing he could actually do about the situation except pound his fists against the floor in frustration over his own helplessness.
"Tokisaki.. Tohka. Tohka is-!"
"I know. That's why I am here. As I said, I'm here to help you, Shidou-san." Kurumi explained, stretching out her right hand to Shidou, who was still laying with his butt on the ground. Shidou took Kurumi's arm, and got up to his feet. It was true that Shidou alone would absolutely not be enough to rescue Tohka, seal Miku and release everyone from her control. And they haven't even touched upon that Wizard who abducted Tohka in the first place. That woman is trouble. She's far too much for any regular human being to contend with. Even for Lucas. Shidou knew exactly that.
"I understand. Thank you."
"Now then. Shall we get started? There is no time for dallying. Some say haste makes waste, but that just means we need to wrap this up before that happens."
"Yeah." Shidou nodded. "So what should I do? I'll do whatever it takes to save Tohka."
"Unfortunately, I can't do anything about that yet. We are still confirming Tohka's location. In the mean time, shouldn't we take care of someone else?"
He quickly guessed what she was getting at. With a heavy sigh, he said, "Miku?"
"Yes." Kurumi nodded. The main reason Shidou was hiding in an abandoned building on the outskirts of town was none other than the fact that he was under attack by the Spirit Izayoi Miku.
Using voice and sound to control people, Miku had amassed a terrifying number of troops, and her army left no stone unturned in their search for Shidou. To make him pay for betraying her.
Shidou grew grim when he was reminded of this.
"Well then, how about we take care of her first? Slowly but surely, she is expanding the area under her control. If this keeps up, we may even be interrupted before we can mount our rescue of Tohka."
"'Take care of her'?" He raised an eyebrow. "You say that like it's so simple, but..."
"It's actually not all that difficult. From what I've observed, she doesn't appear to have any power suited for actual combat."
But before Shidou could comment on this, Kurumi continued.
"Since we may not be able to convince her to pull back, given the short amount of time we have, we must at the very least make her promise not to touch you until we have rescued Tohka."
"Promise?" Shidou scratched his head, a complicated look on his face. It was true that he couldn't leave things as they were and allow Miku to do more damage. He had to make it happen one way or another. "But how exactly are we going to negotiate with her?"
The issue was that army of hers. A wall of people guarded Miku. He didn't even know how large their ranks would swell. It would be nigh impossible to even get close to her.
Perhaps guessing at Shidou's thoughts, Kurumi put a hand to her chin. "What if we could get Miku and you alone together?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, if we could do that...," he started, and then shook his head. "No. It'd be tough. You may have noticed she's not the kind of person you can talk to. Especially since she seriously hates my guts. And anyway, her views on human beings are totally warped. Maybe because she was born a Spirit with a voice that can control people."
Kurumi arched an eyebrow dubiously.
"What is it, Kurumi?" he asked.
"I do wonder about that," she replied, finger pressed thoughtfully to her chin.
"Huh?" Shidou cocked his head to one side.
Kurumi rolled her eyes. "I don't quite know how to explain it. But was she really born with those values?"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, how can I put it? She seems the tiniest bit off." Kurumi frowned. A second later, she lifted her face like she had just thought of something. "Shidou-san. Would we be able to obtain something that belongs to Miku?"
"Like...her stuff? Why?"
"If my instincts are correct, we may be able to pin down her weak point."
"What?!" Shidou frowned dubiously. But it wasn't the time and situation he can doubt one's thoughts, especially someone as intelligent as Kurumi. He didn't know what her plan is, but he's ready to go with whatever it takes.
◇
"Nn... Unh..." Tohka opened her eyes with a quiet moan and yawned. "Haaah."
This was how she woke up every morning. In her sleepy mind, Tohka walked through her routine.
First, she would open her eyes. Then she'd get out of bed and wash her face. After that, eat breakfast, get dressed...and yes, she'd go to school with Shidou. Today's lunch would probably be his special bento. What would he put in it today? Her heart danced in her chest at the mere thought of it.
"Mm... Hmm."
Dozing and drowsing, she tried to climb out of bed. Which was when Tohka realized she couldn't actually move.
"Mm?" She tried to rub her bleary eyes and take a look at her surroundings, but she couldn't lift her hand up.
Frowning, she looked down and discovered that she was sitting in a metal chair with sturdy cuffs around her wrists and ankles. There was also an IV needle in her arm, and several electrodes were stuck to her head and limbs.
"What...is this..."
She looked closer and saw that she was not wearing her usual pajamas, either. Perhaps she had changed at some point-she was now dressed in her Raizen High School uniform.
Tohka twisted her head to look around.
She wasn't in her room. Or at Shidou's house. This place was completely unknown to her, about the same size as her high school classroom. She could see what looked to be a camera and a speaker in one corner, but there was nothing else in the room- just hard floor and walls. Plus, she couldn't see anything resembling a door, much less a window.
It was a strange space. If forced to describe it, she would have said it somehow felt similar to the solitary confinement cell she had seen on TV a while ago, the one where they put all the really bad prisoners.
"Where...am I?" She blinked rapidly, woke up fully, and set her brain to work.
A few moments later, she finally remembered what had happened before she lost consciousness. "Right... I was onstage at the Tenou Festival."
In the middle of a fight with the Spirit Miku, who had manifested her Angel and was controlling Yoshino as well as the Yamai sisters, a Wizard clad in platinum armor had appeared. Tohka had managed to get Shidou out of harm's way, but she, alongside Kucas and Kurumi ended up losing against the Wizard and had been knocked unconscious.
"So then that means that this is-," she started, then heard a sudden noise in front of her and jerked her head up.
A crack in the shape of a rectangle appeared on the wall where there had been nothing only a moment ago, and the wall slid to the side like a door. A hazy square of light popped up in the gloomy space, and she got a glimpse of the world outside.
And then someone stepped through the door into the room. Pale skin and a bundle of almost white hair stood in sharp contrast to her expensive black suit.
Ellen Mathers. The Wizard who Tohka had crossed swords with at the festival.
"You!" Tohka was ready to leap at Ellen the moment she saw her face. But the metal rings that bound her limbs were strong and didn't so much as flex.
"Please calm down, Tohka. You cannot break those cuffs with the power you have now," Ellen said placatingly.
This effortlessly cool attitude only infuriated Tohka further.
"Don't give me that! What exactly do you want?! Get these off me now!"
"And what would you do if I took them off?"
"Obviously! I'm going to help Shidou!" Tohka shouted. She didn't know how much time had passed since the fight at the festival, but she was sure that Shidou was on his own and on the run from Miku's forces right about now.
"Shidou..." Ellen let out a short sigh. "You mean Itsuka Shidou? Please rest assured. We are currently searching for his whereabouts. At the latest, he will be here in a few days."
"Wha...!"
"We are also putting together a siege team for Tenguu Square. When dawn breaks, we will launch an all-out assault and apprehend Diva, Hermit, and Berserk. We will bring you face-to-face with your compatriots once more soon enough. And we'll capture Lucas as well."
"Y-you brute!" Tohka shouted. "What are you going to do to Shidou?!"
"Do not be concerned. We have no intention of being violent with him. Although in the event that he resists, we may have to break an arm or a leg."
"...!" Tohka felt something like fireworks going off inside her head as an unfathomable rage and hatred welled up inside her. The cuffs that had proven entirely unmovable thus far squeaked.
However.
"Wha-?!" She gasped.
Ellen raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, and Tohka's body was pushed back by an invisible force.
"Wh-what is this?!"
It was as if the gravity pushing down on her body had multiplied many times over. Tohka groaned in anguish.
She'd felt this before. It was almost like what she'd experienced when she'd gotten close to Origami and the other AST members. But the strength or maybe the density of it was an order of magnitude greater. Her body felt so heavy that even breathing became difficult. Her consciousness was fading.
"I assume you understand now?" Ellen said, letting out a short breath.
The gravity that had been bearing down on Tohka disappeared as if it had never been in the first place. Air flowed into lungs that had been on the verge of running out of oxygen, and she coughed.
"Kah! Agh!"
"Of all the Wizards, my Territory precision is the greatest. Please understand that there is no point in resisting."
"Ngh." Tohka glared hatefully at Ellen before trying to flex her arms again. But she sensed Ellen's eyes narrowing sharply and gritted her teeth.
With her Spirit power sealed the way it was now, there was no way for her to challenge Ellen's Territory. Tohka clenched her fists in irritation as she stared at Ellen with hard eyes, in an act of the smallest resistance.
"Now then, allow me to ask you a few questions." Ellen pulled out part of the wall to create a simple chair and sat down.
◇
The first thing Origami saw was the color white.
Her mind felt as if it were being yanked back up after sinking deep into a basin of cloudy water as she quickly realized this color was actually a type of building material, and then finally, she noticed that she was lying down.
"Ah..."
It took another few seconds before she could produce a sound. She slowly lifted her arm and found that this was also the color white. It was wrapped in so many bandages, she couldn't see skin.
"O-Origami?!"
She heard a familiar voice and turned her head to find a small girl with her hair tied up in two bundles immediately beside the bed where she lay. A junior member of the SDF Anti-Spirit Team-AST-Okamine Mikie. Her face was decorated with tears and snot; she was a sorry sight.
"Th-thang gooddess... I don't mnow what I bould do if you didn wake ub..."
"Where am I?" Origami asked quietly as she looked at the other girl.
Nose red, Mikie blew her nose with a tissue from a nearby box before replying. "Th-the hospital! Origami, you're really beat up. And you had blood coming out of your eyes and your nose and your ears... I-I didn't know if you'd eber wage ub..." Her voice got even more incomprehensible toward the end. She pulled out another tissue and blew her nose once more.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I know you were in danger, but I couldn't do anything. If I had just brushed off the captain and come running, this would never...!" Mikie cried, her face twisting up in regret.
But Origami shook her head as if to reject this. "No need to apologize."
"Huh?" Mikie's eyes grew wide.
"Whatever my reasons, my actions were a complete violation of orders. It had to be a single member going off mission, rather than a concerted action on the part of the AST. Where is Captain Kusakabe?"
"Captain Kusakabe's judgment is correct. If she had helped me, the entire AST might have faced sanctions."
"N-no, but-"
"It's entirely possible. So I'm responsible for this. For taking White Licorice without permission, for attacking Squad Three, all of it is my-" Her hazy memory suddenly came back clear as day at her own words.
"...!"
Origami's eyes flew open, and she sat up.
No. To be more precise, she tried to sit up. The moment she tried, she was struck by a pain so agonizing, it felt as if her bones were crumbling and her muscles snapping. "Ngh... Unh."
"N-no, Origami! You have to rest!"
"Where's Shidou?"
"Huh?"
"Is Shidou safe?" Origami asked.
Mikie gasped and then fell silent, apparently considering whether or not she should tell Origami what she knew.
"That's currently being investigated," she said finally. "I don't know the details."
Origami frowned. "Meaning?"
Mikie looked at her with concern before timidly reaching for the remote control and turning the TV on. Video filled the screen; sound came from the speakers.
A news program. She saw a view of the city and heard the panicked voice of a reporter, which no doubt stirred up the anxiety of the average viewer.
"The sudden outbreak of widespread rioting in Tenguu City shows no signs of subsiding! Police came to put an end to the violence, and instead joined the rioters! I've never seen anything like this before! What is happening in Tenguu?!"
Origami watched the program from where she lay in bed, and a hint of fear colored her face.
"...! This...!"
"It's just how it looks on TV," Mikie said. "The whole city's in chaos. We're not too close to the city, so we're more or less safe here, but..."
"What happened?" Origami asked, stunned.
"It hasn't been made public, but...it's a Spirit," Mikie told her. "We observed a powerful Spirit signal at Tenguu Square. We think all those people are being controlled by the Spirit."
"A Spirit... So then why aren't you and the team mobilizing?"
"This is the first time anyone's seen this happen, so the brass is all turned upside down. So far we've been given the order to stand by. I should actually be at the base, but the captain gave me special permission..." Mikie trailed off.
Origami frowned ever so slightly, and that was maybe no wonder.
Whatever else, thousands-or worse, tens of thousands-of people were being controlled by a Spirit. Given how their senior officers wanted to overlook DEM's evildoings, it would have been hard for them to take responsibility and give the order to attack without considering how this would affect DEM.
But with all this going on, what exactly had happened to Shidou? Was he under the control of the Spirit like the crowd on the TV? Or...
And then Origami remembered the face of the girl she'd seen before she passed out.
"Mana..."
Former DEM Wizard and Shidou's long-lost little sister, Takamiya Mana had saved Origami from that tight spot. She must have also rescued Shidou.
"Where's Mana?"
"Mana?" Mikie frowned. "Oh, that's right. I was surprised! I heard no one knew where she went. But then Mana herself came flying up with you in her arms! She was wearing a CR unit I've never seen before, and she said something like, the next time she saw us, she'd probably be our business rival. And then she just jetted off somewhere..."
Origami combed through her memories and recalled the words she'd heard Mana say while she was barely clinging to consciousness. She felt like Mana had indeed said something like that. She didn't know the details, but it seemed certain that she had absconded from DEM at least.
"Nothing about Shidou?" she asked.
"N-no." Mikie shook her head. "Unfortunately."
"...Ngh." Origami grunted in vexation and slowly sat up, being careful this time not to place undue burden on any particular part. But even this movement caused her body to shriek. It was badly battered after too many punishing attacks and her own insistence on pushing past her activation limit with that destructive equipment.
"I...have to..." She clenched her fists and beat the bed.
Fwm. A puff of dust rose up.
Origami felt helpless. In the end, she hadn't been able to protect Shidou. She had flouted the rules and taken White Licorice, and she still hadn't been able to achieve her objective.
"Shi...dou..." She called the name of her lover, wondering if he was okay, and her fists shook.
◇
"This...is it?"
"Yeah. No mistake."
The time was nine PM. Shidou and Kurumi were standing in a quiet residential area where the streetlamps and the houses emitted a hazy, warm light. Before them was a tall, elaborate iron fence and a carefully tended yard. And a Western-style house like something out of a fairy tale.
Shidou had visited this place just once before-Izayoi Miku's house.
There was likely no one inside. The windows were dark, and the whole place was enveloped in silence.
Investigating the Spirits was extremely difficult since they appeared and disappeared from this world at random. The Spirit known as Izayoi Miku, however, was an exception.
Not only had she been going to school in this world for at least the last several months, but Miku was also a singer who made public appearances. Unlike other Spirits, she had left plenty of traces of herself in this world.
"Well then. Shall we begin our investigation?" Kurumi asked as she raised her right hand.
An old-fashioned pistol jumped out of the shadows into her open palm. And then, without a moment's hesitation, she pulled the trigger. The noise echoed through the night air, and the lock on the gate was blown away.
"Whoa, Tokisaki!" Shidou cried.
"What's the matter, Shidou-san?" Kurumi cocked her head to one side. "This is the only way to get inside, or did you see any other one?"
No." He paused. "Well, there's that. But think about it. Firing a gun in a quiet neighborhood like this, someone might call the police!"
"But the members of the police force are currently overwhelmed dealing with the riots and are hardly in a position to respond."
"Th-that's -" She did have a good point though, and Shidou shut his mouth.
Kurumi opened the gate, which creaked arduously. Ignoring Shidou's warning, she fired another shadow bullet at the lock of the front door.
The moment its role was fulfilled, she released the gun, and it was swallowed up by the shadows once more.
"Argh... Unbelievable." Shidou scratched at his head and looked both ways to check that there was no one else around before following Kurumi into the house.
"Umm, probably around here." He groped for the light switch, and the chandelier glowed with a gentle light.
Everything inside looked expensive. Although he'd been there once before, he was still overwhelmed.
But now was not the time to be awestruck by the display of material wealth. He flexed all his muscles to psych himself up and then took off his shoes before continuing inside.
"Now then. Where to begin our search?" Kurumi asked.
"Mm. Right." If he was being honest, Shidou didn't have any real idea. This was the kind of situation where he wanted to pore over every little nook and cranny, but they couldn't afford such a leisurely search. He recalled the last time he'd been invited to this house.
"The salon on the first floor doesn't really have much of note," he said. "If there's going to be anything, it'll be in Miku's bedroom or something. Maybe."
"I see." Kurumi nodded. "Well, shall we go then?"
"Yeah." He followed her up the stairs.
They found Miku's bedroom soon enough. Once they'd reached the second floor and started down the hallway, they came across a door with a sign that said BEDROOM on it.
"..."
He felt the tiniest bit nervous at the immoral act of entering a girl's bedroom while the owner was out. But he quickly turned that thought into "I'm an idiot thinking about stuff like that at a time like this" and opened the door.
It was maybe thirty square meters, a king-sized bed with a canopy set toward the back while a wooden wardrobe and cabinets lined the walls. And in front of the bed was an enormous TV, likely eighty inches. It was almost like a hotel room.
"This is... Whoa."
He smiled awkwardly without really meaning to. But he couldn't just stand here being surprised. He offered up a quiet "excuse me" as a gesture of remorse before finally entering the room.
The wardrobe and cabinets were straight out of an antique shop, and he opened them up in turn to peek around inside. He mostly found accessories and cute little trinkets. Kurumi wanted something that belonged to Miku. Would this sort of thing work?
"I found something, Shidou." Not even a minute has passed, and Kurumi already finished the search. When he turned his gaze to her, he saw a small square container in her hands. She had opened it already, and inside, it held multiple plastic cases with CD's inside of them. All of them had Miku on the cover, so they are probably songs that Miku released.
"CD's?"
"She's got this many songs? ...Wait." Shidou unconsciously cocked his head to one side.
The name inscribed below the song titles wasn't Miku's.
"Yoimachi Tsukino? What's with this name?"
For a moment, he thought it was a stage name, but Tonomachi and everyone else had called her Miku Izayoi like normal. There was no doubt that she performed under the name Miku.
And Miku was supposed to be a mysterious idol who performed only at secret live shows limited to female fans. This was the first he'd heard of her proudly gracing the covers of CD jackets like this.
"What is this?" he muttered.
"I'm only theorizing this, but I'm guessing from the different name, she had been around as a human idol, even before the famous Izayoi Miku had debuted." Kurumi said, taking out a CD out of one of the cases, set it in the tray of the nearby CD player, and hit play. Cute upbeat music came out through the speakers, accompanied by Miku's voice.
"This is Miku's voice...isn't it?"
Naturally, there was a difference between live singing and a recording. But it was more than that. This voice was younger-it didn't have the same bewitching appeal that rocked the brain stem the way Miku's voice did now. Now connecting this with what Kurumi had just said, it did make sense. The song was filled instead with an earnest determination and a strange charm that animated the listener.
"Take a look at this as well." Kurumi touched his shoulder, and brought his attention away from the music, to Kurumi. Kurumi held out a picture that was laying in between the CD's.
"Huh?" He felt a curious sensation graze the back of his mind, and he opened his eyes wide.
Weird. Something is definitely weird.
He took the photo out of Kurumi's hands and stared hard at it.
There was no critical bit of information written on the back of the picture. Nor had it been photoshopped in any obvious way. It was an utterly normal photograph.
But that wasn't why he paused. When he really thought about it, this photo shouldn't have existed.
"No way. This is...," he murmured, frowning.
He put a hand to his forehead as his thoughts raced and landed on a certain possibility. It was a possibility that Kotori had rejected, but not entirely impossible. But if he was right, it would explain the existence of this photograph and the CDs he'd found. And it proved Kurumi's theory to be true.
"But if that's it, then how..."
As Shidou stared at the picture, a pale hand reached out from his side and plucked it from his fingers. He didn't have to wonder who the culprit was-Kurumi.
"This seems to be quite interesting, don'tyou think? Allow me to take it back for a moment."
She held the photo with one of the CDs on top in one hand and threw her free hand up into the air. An old-fashioned pistol appeared from her shadow and settled into her palm.
"Zafkiel. Yodh. Tenth Bullet," she said, and part of her shadow shone with an X before another shadow oozed out from it and was sucked into the barrel of the pistol.
And then, for some reason, she touched the photo and the CD to the side of her head and turned the pistol on them. It looked almost as if she were trying to defend against the bullet with the picture and the CD.
When Shidou cocked his head to one side at the curious behavior, Kurumi pulled the trigger without hesitation. Hurtling out of the barrel, "Yodh" pierced the photo and the CD, and plunged into her head.
"T-Tokisaki?!" Shidou shouted, but then quickly realized something was amiss. Neither the picture nor the CD that the bullet had supposedly gone through were even scratched, much less Kurumi's head.
"Do not worry, Shidou-san. The power of Yodh is recollection. This bullet brings me the memories contained in the target it passes through."
"The...memories?"
"Yes." She nodded, the corners of her lips turning up as she looked at the photo and the CD. "I see. So this is how everything developed. It's only fragments, but I've uncovered the reason why I felt something off about her."
"Y-you got something?!" he cried.
"Yes. It seems that my theory-"
The windows rattled, and he heard a loud sound from immediately outside.
"A-an alarm?!" His eyes flew open in surprise, but he soon realized that this was not the normal shrill spacequake warning he'd heard so many times in his life.
It was music.
The majestic sounds of an enormous pipe organ and a song woven together by a beautiful voice that took its listeners prisoner echoed throughout the city.
The moment he heard it, a familiar dizziness overcame Shidou. He pressed hard on his temples to hold on to his mind.
"This is...Miku!"
Yes. This was the supreme performance by the Spirit Izayoi Miku and her Angel Gabriel.
But when he peeked out the window, he saw no sign of the enormous Angel. Most likely, it had plugged into the public speaker system that played warnings and other messages during times of emergency. That or she had one of those propaganda trucks driving around, blaring its speakers. He had already seen that Miku's performance had the power to affect people via machinery. So he knew the residents in this area would also become her ardent fans and move to capture him.
The situation was growing progressively worse. Perhaps frustrated that she still hadn't found Shidou, Miku was actively expanding her region of control.
"I've expected something like that would happen."
"Kurumi.. let's go and get her straight to the point. " Shidou said, suddenly all serious. This was probably the first time she had seen him this serious. It forced a smile on her face.
"With pleasure."
◇
"-------!!"
Tenguu Square's central stage was on fire.
An enormous pipe organ-Gabriel-rose up in the center of the stage, gleaming with a faint light, and Miku sang in front of it, running her fingers across the shining keyboard, clad in her Astral Dress. For the spectators, now transformed into Miku's crazed fans, this was a sight akin to a visit from God. People here and there passed out from the sheer overwhelming emotion of it all.
The men were chased out of the venue, so that the spectators who clamored in Miku's field of vision to take on the job of guarding her were all girls. They brandished the same purple light sticks and greeted each and every one of Miku's movements with shrieks and screams.
Her performance now was playing in real time over speakers all across the city. Anyone who heard her song would become Miku's newest soldier and set out to look for that despicable boy.
"...Unh!"
A memory of the loathsome incident a few hours earlier flitted through her mind, and she gasped unconsciously.
Her song ended at just that moment, and the venue erupted in applause that threatened to rip it apart.
Despite the fact that normally this would be a moment when Miku basked in that delicious sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, her mood now was sour because the face of that boy had just marred her thoughts. An indignant look appeared on her face, and she brought her mouth toward the mic she had yet to touch until now.
"I'm tired, so I'm going to rest juuuust a little. Feel free to do as you pleaaaase until I begin again." She heard disappointed cries but paid these no attention as she turned and went back to the wings of the stage.
"Haah..."
She was actually tired after playing her Angel for so long in order to expand her area of control. She let out a short sigh and pulled up her hair, damp with sweat.
"Th-that was wonderful...Miss Miku. Um, if you'd like...here..."
A timid voice called out to her. When she glanced over, she found a small girl in a maid's uniform standing there, holding out a towel to Miku.
This particular fan- Yoshino- had been totally charmed by Miku's performance that day.
Wavy hair, beautiful eyes like sapphires. The girl was like one of those dolls you just wanted to pick up and squeeze. There had been an extra maid café uniform, so Miku had told her to change into it. The costume suited her so well, it should have been illegal. Unable to resist, Miku wrapped her arms around the girl.
"Aaah, you are so cuuuuute! I can't stand it! It's too much!"
"E-eep! Miss Miku...?!"
"Whoa! Miku, baby, you are surprisingly. Bold!"
Yoshino looked panicked, her eyes shifting from side to side, and the rabbit puppet on her right hand-Yoshinon-cried out in a shrill voice.
At first, Miku had wondered why she had this puppet. But from the stories she had heard, it seemed that this was Yoshino's extremely close friend. Plus, Yoshino was so cute doing this ventriloquist act that Miku just let it go.
After she'd had her fill of skinship with Yoshino, Miku planted a kiss on her cheek and let her go. Yoshino's face bloomed a bright red.
"Thank you, Yoshino. You brought this just for meeee, hm?"
"Uh. Um. Y-yes!"
Dropping her head as if to hide her beet-red face, Yoshino held out the towel in her right hand.
Miku accepted it with a "thank you" and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Of course, half of it had technically been wiped away when she hugged Yoshino.
She looked down at Yoshino once more, and a satisfied smile rose up on her face.
This was no ordinary cute little girl. She was a Spirit who manipulated water and cold-Hermit. That was the code name for little Yoshino here.
A Spirit. Yes. Just like Miku, she had abilities beyond human comprehension.
"Hee-hee! I reeeeally am lucky. To think that there were Spirits in the venue here!"
Yes. It was a complete coincidence that Yoshino heard Miku's song. Miku never dreamed that she would be able to make a Spirit hers so soon. And not just that...
"Keh-keh, you must be enervated, Lady Miku. Best that you rest and take your leisure."
"Encouragement. Come this way, Miss Miku."
Miku turned her head to find two girls waiting there, dressed in the same maid uniforms.
They looked so much alike that she almost wondered for a moment if one of them wasn't an image in a mirror. But when she looked very closely, she could pick out the individual differences of each twin.
The one with the theatrical manner of speech and behavior, determined look on her face, and bewitchingly slender body was Kaguya, while the one with the dazed expression, unusual tone, and exquisite proportions that might have even rivaled Miku's own was Yuzuru. Both were creatures known as Spirits, just like Miku and Yoshino.
Naturally, the twins currently adored Miku. Now, perhaps to thank her for her hard work, they had set up a chair and a drink for her in the greenroom.
"Hee-hee! Thaaaank you."
Miku smiled warmly and, following the twins' urging, sat down on the chair. As soon as she did, Kaguya began to gently massage her shoulders, while Yuzuru knelt down beside Miku and held out a glass.
Miku turned just her face in that direction and took a drink through a thoughtfully placed straw. The sweet and tart taste of fruit filled her mouth.
"Mm. That's so goood."
"Bliss. I am so deeply honored."
"H-halt! Why would you speak only to Yuzuru? Do you mean to say that my technique does not bring satisfaction?!" Kaguya cried out as she massaged Miku's shoulders. She was so adorable like this that Miku's face broke into a cheery smile.
"I'm sorry. Of course that's not what I'm saaaying. Your massage feels really great. It's heavenly."
"Keh. Keh-keh... Is that so? Acceptable then," Kaguya mumbled as she put her anger to bed. This was also very cute, and Miku's grin grew even wider.
Perhaps thinking that the Yamai sisters had taken Miku from her, Yoshino looked around frantically and then picked up a large hand fan nearby and began fanning Miku slowly.
"Thank you so much, Yoshino. That feels wonderful."
"Uh. Um... It's. O-okay...!" Yoshino said, looking bashful but also delighted.
"Aah..." Miku let out a sigh of ecstasy. "What a paradise."
Girls eagerly awaiting her song in front of a stage that was hers alone. And peerless beauties looking after her every need with such devotion.
It was simply too marvelous; Miku almost wondered if it was a dream. And in fact, she had pinched her cheek a couple times earlier. Naturally, it hurt every time.
But...
"Ngh." Miku scowled at the vexing memory that flitted through her head once more.
Itsuka Shiori. It brought back that name and the face that went with it.
"I'll never forgive you...Shiori..."
The hatred that swirled in her heart carried into her voice as she half groaned, half murmured this. The sheer threat of it made Yoshino and the Yamai sisters gasp.
"Hrngh..." Remembering that vile scene vividly now, she was overcome by an unbearable urge to vomit, and she pressed a hand to her mouth.
"M-Miss Miku!"
"Are you unwell, Lady Miku?!"
"Shiver. Someone get a bag."
The three Spirits cried out in a panic. Miku checked their movement with "I'm all riiight" and gritted her teeth tightly.
That abnormal sensation she'd felt when she touched Shiori's lower half. And then the terrible thing she had seen between her legs.
Yes. Itsuka Shiori was the type of creature that Miku loathed most of all in this world- she was a man.
"I'll get you. You'll pay! How dare you toy with my heart!" Miku hugged her shoulders as if to stop them from shaking and scratched at her upper arms.
All the things she'd done when she thought Shiori was a girl flashed before her eyes. With each image, goose bumps rose up on the skin all over her body.
There was one last thing she needed to do before she made this town her ideal home. She could never find rest until that man, Itsuka Shiori-aka Itsuka Shidou-was brought before her and she made him regret the fact that he had ever been born into this world.
"That boy... We stiiiiiill haven't found him?" Miku asked, her voice filled with wrath, which made Yoshino jump.
"N-no... Um. We haven't had any...word yet."
"Is that soooo... Have them continue-"
Just when Miku was about to give instructions, the door of the greenroom opened with a bang, and three girls in the same maid uniforms as Yoshino and the Spirits came running in.
"Excuse us, Miss Miku!"
"It's an emergency, Miss Miku!"
"It's real bad, Miss Miku!"
They shouted in order of height.
The Raizen students who were supposed to play in the band with Shidou. Miku was pretty sure their names were Ai, Mai, and Mii, from right to left.
"What's the maaatter? Why are you in such a panic?" she asked.
The three girls looked at one another before continuing.
"I-it's serious! They found Itsuka!"
"What did you say?" Miku narrowed her eyes at this report, and laughter began to spill out of her mouth. "Hee-hee... Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee! Is that soooo? They finally fouuuund him?"
She stood up slowly.
"He was more tenacious than I expected. Hee-hee-hee! But he can't fight me. He can't run from my adorable army. Where exactly was he found? If it was a girl who found him, I will spoil her most lavishly. Please ask the girl in question to come here later. If it was a man... Well, I suppose I could give him a candy."
Ai-Mai-Mii looked at one another with troubled expressions.
"What's wrooong?" she asked, and then gasped. "Oh! Is the person who found him maybe nonbinary?"
"N-no, that's not the issue..."
"How can we put this... Too many people found him."
"Or, like, we don't know where he was hiding..."
Miku frowned dubiously. "What are you trying to say? You found the target, right?"
"Y-yes."
"That's right."
"One hundred percent!"
The three girls agreed simultaneously.
"Then there's no problem, iiiis there? Where was he?"
"Um. That's... Quite nearby."
"Or more like, he's right in front of Tenguu Square."
"Wh-what should we do?"
"Huh?" Miku's eyes flew open wide.
◇
A few minutes earlier...
With Kurumi at his side, Shidou returned to Tenguu Square, the large convention center in the center of the city of Tenguu. The stage for the Tenou Festival, held jointly by ten different schools, was ground zero of the rioting ripping through the city. And the stronghold of the Spirit Izayoi Miku.
"Of course her base would have this many bodies around it," Shidou said in a quiet voice as he peered down at the ground from the roof of a nearby building. Although it was very unlikely that they would hear him from so far below, there was still no need to speak loudly.
Countless people swarmed in front of the entrance to Tenguu Square, which was eerily lit up in the middle of the night.
Noticing the sound of a propeller approaching, he hid himself in a shadow.
A news helicopter with the name of a TV station emblazoned on the side flew by overhead. They had no doubt come to get footage of the unprecedented riot, but most likely, everyone from pilot to reporter had heard Miku's performance. The helicopter had been persistently circling the area around Tenguu Square at a strangely low altitude, as if systematically searching for something in the area.
He had no idea exactly how far Miku's control reached, but at the very least, the parts of the city that he'd seen on their way to Tenguu Square had been filled with residents wandering around, their minds captivated by Miku's performance. The whole thing looked very much like a scene from a disaster movie.
And they hadn't been almost discovered just once or twice. If Kurumi hadn't been with him, Shidou would have been caught long ago and delivered up to Miku.
"We made it this far. So what's the plan now?" Sweat beaded on his forehead as Shidou looked down on the throng of people clamoring below him. "With the front door looking like this, the other entrances are bound to be locked up tight. And even if we wanted to break in through the roof, there's that helicopter watching."
"What are you talking about, Shidou-san? Why, it goes without saying," Kurumi replied with a blank look.
"You have a way in?" he asked.
"Yes, of course. I will ensure that you are delivered directly to Miku. Well, naturally, after that, the rest is up to your own little tricks, Shidou-san."
He frowned. "Can you really do that?"
"...You will have to trust me in this one." Kurumi said, and Shidou saw a drop of sweat gliding down her cheek. "Now, shall we be on our way? The situation will only grow worse with the more time we waste."
From the way she spoke, she seemed both nervous but also confident. Shidou didn't doubt her abilities, but they are only a team of two against three powerful Spirits and Miku's army, which had probably increased by ten fold by now.
"What exactly do we do, though? With so many people watching, I mean-"
"It's simple." Kurumi stood up. And scooped Shidou up while she was at it.
"Huh?" he cried out, baffled.
"Noooow, it's time for us to go." She put a foot on the edge of the roof, Shidou still in her arms.
And then without a moment's hesitation, she leaped forward.
"W-whaaaaaaaaa?!"
A ten-story building. A vertical drop of more than thirty meters. Without even the chance to brace himself, Shidou forgot about the swarms of enemies in the area and screamed.
He felt a sense of weightlessness lifting him up, and then they were landing. The moment Kurumi's feet touched the ground, a concentrated shadow appeared there to absorb the impact of their fall.
"Oh my, Shidou-san. You were quite loud there." Kurumi giggled as she peered at his face.
"Wh-whatever. Just put me down!" he yelped. Kurumi answered his request by setting him down.
Instantly, several spotlights lit them up clear as day.
But that was only natural. He'd screamed so loudly in the middle of a group of enemies on high alert. He had basically asked them to look this way.
"Crap!" Shidou took in the scene before him.
Person. Person. Person. And as a bonus: person.
The enemy numbered in the tens of thousands. It was such an absolute disparity in combat strength that overwhelming didn't begin to describe it.
On top of that, they were all staring at Shidou with hateful eyes as if he had killed their parents or something. No matter how brave the person, it was enough to make anyone at least break out into a sweat.
"Well, that really is so like you to go shrieking and telling everyone where you are, hm?" Kurumi said casually.
"And who's fault is that?!" he yelled.
But now was not the time for that.
Perhaps all these people were just watching them. Or maybe they were waiting for orders from Miku. Either way, rather than charging at them, a group of men were steadily building up a perimeter. They gradually formed a semicircle around Shidou and Kurumi, who stood with the wall of a building at their backs, while brawny men and police officers with guns stepped forward to stand at the front of the human barrier.
"You must be feeling quite confident to go out of your way to return to my castle, hmmm, Shiori-No, Itsuka Shidou!"
A voice rang out in Tenguu Square. Although it was through speakers, there was no mistake. It was Izayoi Miku. She had clearly been informed of his presence.
"Miku!" Shidou responded automatically. But naturally, his voice couldn't reach her inside Tenguu Square.
Miku continued in the same ice-cold tone.
"I have noooo idea what you're up to, but now that it's come to this, I can't let you run anymore. You understand, right? All right, everyone, please capture him. You may hurt him if it's only a liiiiittle bit, but please handle him as carefully as you can, okay? Otherwise, there'll be less for me to do."
The announcement cut off with a zzt.
And then Shidou heard the earthshaking roar of the Miku believers who filled his field of vision.
"A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a h ! !"
"G-gah!"
Freed of their fetters, the devotees bolted toward Shidou and Kurumi in an avalanche of people. Shidou had somehow managed to put on a brave face until that point, but now he flinched at the sheer force of the crowd.
"T-Tokisaki! We're doomed! We gotta get out of here!"
However.
Kurumi didn't so much as turn her head as she continued to stand there calmly.
And this made sense only when he thought about it. Whatever else was going on, they were completely surrounded by an army of countless fanatics. There was already nowhere for them to run!
"Ngh!"
This was the end of the line. Shidou pressed himself against the wall behind him as the hands of the man in the lead reached out for his neck.
But before those hands could touch him, the man dropped to the ground abruptly by long, creepy, whtehands that strechted out of the ground, which was now covered in a dark shadow.
"Huh?" Shidou said, perplexed. "Wh-what..." He mustered his strength and somehow managed to get himself to stand upright again. He had never seen this before- these arms.
There was only one answer to these mysterious arms that held all the people around them at bay.
"T-Tokisaki..?!" The source of the arms was no other than Kurumi. From the spot she stood with her feet, she had spread her shadow across a wide range. Everyone, except Kurumi and Shidou, who entered this range gets entangled by these creepy arms and completely immobilized.
"W-wait, don't overdo it...!" Shidou said, worried when he saw how the people got crushed by the arms. They were just humans after all.
"I know, I know. It's just enough to hold them back." she said.
"Wh-what? They...!"
In the Tenguu Square security office, Miku cried out at the unbelievable scene unfolding before her eyes as she stared at the monitors lining the wall.
The screens were currently showing feeds from cameras set up on the roof. Miku had wanted to enjoy the spectacle of that loathsome boy being captured from this special seat, waited on by her adorable Spirits.
But just when her believers closed in on Shidou under her orders, they all got entangled by mysterious arms and collapsed on the spot. And then, with no one left to block their path, Shidou and a girl in a dress simply strolled away.
"That girl... Wasn't she with that weird mask guy..?" Miku quietly said, clenching her fist and gritting her teeth. She remembered this girl. She was assisting that weird mask guy and Tohka. She fought against her. Her clones and her bullets were a pain in the ass for Miku. But since she does have three powerful Spirits in her arsenal, she didn't seem too worried about her at that time. But now, it seemed like she was different. Her presence wasn't different, nor the way of her fighting style. But the strength she has is clearly different from a few hours ago.
"Hmph, this is annoooying."
The fact that the girl had made it this far meant that she had to have heard Miku singing, but she showed no signs of obeying the pop star. Miku had made Yoshino and the Yamai sisters her slaves, so it wasn't like her performance didn't work on this girl because she was a Spirit. Neither this, nor the first time she saw that girl. She never obeyed her voice.
As Miku's thoughts raced, Shidou and the mysterious girl approached Tenguu Square. They would soon be at Miku's doorstep.
To seal Miku's Spirit power
"Ngh! As if I'd allow thaaat to happen." Miku squeezed the words from her throat, her clenched fists trembling.
Yes. There was absolutely no way she would let them steal her Spirit power from her.
After all, if I lose this power, this voice...
"It would be...just like back then all over again!" She shook her head briskly from side to side and leaped up from her chair.
Kaguya had been massaging Miku's shoulders, and now her eyes flew open in surprise.
"L-Lady Miku? Is something the matter?"
"I'm going back to the stage right now!" she cried. "Follow me! We're restarting the performance!"
"Hngh..."
It turned out that walking over a layer of unconscious people was a surprising drain on the human psyche. Battling the nausea that came over him from time to time, Shidou chased after Kurumi, taking small bouncing steps like dance moves.
Although it was hard to say this was an easy path to walk, even if he were trying to be generous, there wasn't a single person actively obstructing them. It wasn't long before Shidou and Kurumi reached the entrance to the central stage.
"Now, Shidou."
"Right!" He nodded and shoved the door open. "...!"
The atmosphere hanging over the central stage was also bizarre. The audience seating was filled with girls, but they were all bent over, heads hanging, possibly due to the effects of Kurumi's shadow.
And on the stage at the far end of the space, he saw her.
A girl clad in a shimmering Astral Dress stood calmly with a massive Angel in the shape of a pipe organ behind her.
Izayoi Miku. A Spirit who manipulated voice and sound- and the current queen of this venue.
He also spotted Yoshino and the Yamai sisters next to her, manifesting limited versions of their own Astral Dresses over their maid uniforms, with each of their own Angels at the ready.
"Miku!" Shidou shouted.
Miku let out a great sigh.
"Whaaaat is this voice? Could you please not sully my ears and those of myyyy Spirits with something that sounds so disgusting? You truly are an unpleasant person, hm? You've gone beyond having no value to being actively harmful. You're so repulsive that if you were turned to dust and returned to the earth, you would cast an eternal curse upon the land, ensuring no new life could ever grow there. Could you pleeeeease just keep your mouth shut, you walking cloud of pestilence?"
"...Ngh!" Showered in abuse in that slow drawl, he automatically furrowed his brow.
"Miku! Listen to me! I have to go and rescue Tohka-the girl who was abducted before! So-"
"I said...please shut your mooooouth!" Miku shrieked, and threw out her hands.
A shining keyboard materialized in the empty space, following the trajectory of those hands.
"Gabriel! March!"
All her fingers pounded on the keyboard, and a stirring song filled the venue, the sort of tune that made a person stand up and mo ve.
Instantly, the limp girls in the audience jumped to their feet like marionettes being pulled around by their strings.
"Th-this is..." He looked over at Kurumi. She didn't seem worried at all. Instead, she was calm. Again, her shadow beneath her opened wide, and a single small thing rose up to her hands. Shidou couldn't really figure out what it was, since Kurumi grabbed it with her hand. But before he could ask what that thing is-
"Now then, no more playing nice. No more orders to caaatch him. My adorable little girls! Please kill that boy!"
The thousands of girls in the audience all whirled to stare at Shidou.
"Ngh!" He froze, grimacing.
"Don't act as though you are victorious over such a trifling as this." Her shadow painted the entire venue black. "You can give these girls all the extra strength you want, but they still won't have a chance again us."
"Wh...?!" came Miku's perplexed cry from the stage. The reason was obvious.
From every area of Tenguu Square's central stage, an area supposedly under the complete control of Miku's sound, countless Kurumis popped into existence and held down the hands, feet, and bodies of Miku's girl army.
"-?!"
Miku wasn't the only one stunned; for a moment, Shidou was also at a loss for words before this unusual sight. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Kurumi's avatars show up. But this was his first time seeing this many at once.
"Wh-what is this?! How on earth...!"
In response to Miku's screeching, the Kurumis growing out of the venue floor, walls, and seats giggled in unison. The bizarre sound echoed from all directions. The entire spectacle was disordered and absurd, a painting done by a mad artist.
But as to the question of whether or not Kurumi had now completely subdued Miku's troops, the answer was absolutely not.
"Raphael. El Re'em!"
"Concord. El Na'ash."
He had no sooner heard these voices from the air above than he was assaulted by an intense roaring wind.
"Hngaah!"
Shidou was helplessly knocked through the air by the overwhelming blast and slammed into a wall.
But strangely, the impact didn't hurt at all. And why would it? A Kurumi avatar with just her torso poking out from the wall had gently stopped the flying Shidou.
"Th-thanks, Tokisaki... I can call you that, right?"
"Hihihi, making a joke at a time like this... What are you thinking?"
"...R-right." He had some complicated feelings here, but now wasn't the time for sorting them out. Planting his feet on the floor, he looked up at the two girls who leaped out from above the stage.
"Kaguya! Yuzuru!"
The twin Spirits, with Astral Dresses like bondage gear materialized over maid uniforms and a single wing on each of their backs, looked down on Shidou, with enormous lance and pendulum at the ready. Kurumi might have been powerful, but even she couldn't casually restrain a Spirit who had materialized her Angel.
Kaguya and Yuzuru stared at him with cutting gazes from where they were floating in midair. They weren't fooling around. Their eyes were filled with a hostility so palpable, it almost took physical form and stabbed him.
"W-we won't let you...lay a finger. On Miss Miku!"
Similarly, Yoshino, plastered to the back of her large rabbit-shaped Angel Zadkiel onstage, had erected a barrier of cold air to defend Miku from the herd of Kurumis.
Seeing this, Miku's stiff face began to relax once again.
"Hee. Hee-hee! That's riiiight. I have three precious, adorable Spirits standing by me now! There's no way I can lose!"
The corners of Kurumi's lips turned into a thick grin. "Now then, it's time!" Kurumi raised a leisurely hand and sang out the name of her Angel. "Come forth, Zaaaaaafkiel."
Instantly, a golden clock rose up from the ground, as if to block the entrance to the stage. Its massive face was perhaps twice as tall as Kurumi herself, and an ancient rifle and pistol were set upon it in place of clock hands.
"Her...Angel...," Shidou murmured, staring up at the clock, dumbfounded.
Zafkiel. An Angel with the unparalleled power to control time.
The corner of Kurumi's mouth slid up, and she threw her arms out. The two guns popped off the clock face and dropped into her waiting hands.
And then Kurumi said quietly, "Now, Shidou. Are your preparations complete?"
"Huh? Preparations?"
"I will ensure that you and Miku have a moment alone. Please do try to convince her somehow. It would be wonderful if you can find a way to reform her. If that proves impossible, then please do make her promise to at least not interfere with Tohka's rescue."
Kurumi winked as she kissed the pistol.
"Zafkiel. Aleph. First Bullet."
A shadow oozed out from the I on the clock face and was sucked into the barrel of the pistol. At the same time, new Kurumis holding guns popped out of various parts of the venue and began to fire shadow bullets at the Yamai sisters hanging in the air.
"Gah! How vexing! Yuzuru!"
"Response. Kaguya, give me your hand."
When the twin Spirits joined hands, they started to spin with that bond as the axis.
A fierce wind kicked up with the twins at the center of the vortex, easily knocking away the Kurumis' inky black bullets.
"Keh-kah-kah-kah! Did you believe such trifles would be effective on us, the children of the hurricane!"
"Rejection. Such an attack is nothing more than a peashooter in the face of our wind."
The Yamai sisters called out in loud voices. The Kurumis shot shadow bullet after shadow bullet, but all were caught up in the swirling wall of wind surrounding Kaguya and Yuzuru.
However.
The real Kurumi standing in front of Zafkiel twisted her lips up slightly at this sight. And then she turned the gun loaded with Aleph on the Kurumi who had caught Shidou.
"Well then, I shall leave this to you, Me."
"Yes, I accept this responsibility, Me."
After this brief exchange, a black bullet pierced the Kurumi who held Shidou.
But Shidou knew that this was not a bullet that killed its target. The power of Aleph was...
"Whoa!" Shidou gasped at the sudden shock that assaulted his body.
For a second, he thought he'd been attacked by the Yamai sisters, but that wasn't right. With him still in her arms, the Kurumi avatar had slipped out beneath the sisters and was racing toward Miku on the stage.
"Wha-!"
"Shiver. Just now-"
He heard the baffled voices of Kaguya and Yuzuru above. Although this Kurumi carrying Shidou in her arms had had her time sped up by Aleph, the sisters had apparently still noticed her. They clearly possessed an incredible dynamic vision.
But stuck repelling the bullets that came at them from all directions, the Yamai sisters were a second delayed in responding to the fast-forward Kurumi. By the time they began to glide through the air after them, Shidou and Kurumi had already reached the stage.
"...!"
"Ah! Ah ah!"
Onstage, Yoshino and Zadkiel panicked at their sudden appearance and threw up a wall of ice to protect Miku from this new high-speed threat.
But several Kurumis immediately flew at Zadkiel like missiles.
"I won't let you, Yoshino-san."
"A-ah!"
"Whoa! What is with all of you?!"
Yoshino yanked her hands back, and Zadkiel turned away. The moisture in the air around them condensed into icicles. These icy daggers shot out in all directions to counter the charging Kurumis.
When Yoshino was forced to deal with this onslaught of clones, her formation of the barrier on the stage slowed. An instant before the ice wall was complete, Kurumi closed in on Miku, Shidou in her arms, so fast she was nothing more than a blur.
"Eee!"
"Bleh!" Kurumi playfully stuck out her tongue at Miku.
The other Spirit apparently did not care for this. The fear on her face was instantly replaced by anger. She threw her head back and took a deep breath.
"Kurumi! Watch out!" Shidou shouted. He had seen Miku do this before. That pressure of the sound she produced the last time he saw her do this had enough force to send Lucas, Tohka and even Kurumi herself flying. However sped up Kurumi's time might have been, she wouldn't be able to dodge it, given that it was a sound, not a physical attack.
But then something unexpected happened.
"Aah!"
An inky shadow spread out at Miku's feet, and a Kurumi leaped out and slapped a hand over Miku's mouth.
"M-mmph?!" Miku darted her eyes about in surprise and kicked and flailed to try and break free.
But more Kurumis crawled out of the shadow to wrap themselves around Miku's limbs. And then they slowly dragged her down into the shadow.
"Hngh! Mmmmmmnph?!" Although she struggled frantically, Miku wasn't physically strong enough to fight off this many Kurumis. Gradually, she was swallowed up by the darkness at her feet.
"K-Kurumi! What are you doing?! This isn't what we-" Shidou cut himself off and gasped.
His own body, still held by Kurumi, had started to sink into the shadow as well.
"Wha-?! Kurumi!"
His eyes flew open in surprise, and he squirmed to try and get away, but Kurumi's hands held him firmly. His field of vision steadily descended, as if he were on an elevator.
"Ngh... Ah!"
"The rest is up you, Shidou."
Listening to Kurumi's sentence, Shidou watched as his world was colored black.
◇
Just a few hours earlier, a minute after Lucas has temporarily regained consciousness, which was slowly but gradually fading away by the second. His head was wobbly, and his eyes were half grayed out. His skin was pale, and cold.
But nonetheless he mustered up his remaining strength to give something special to Kurumi. He slowly, raised his shaking hand, and pressed his palm on her chest.
"...!" Kurumi flinched at the sudden move, but quickly realized Lucas' intention wasn't to feel her boob, but something else. She felt a warm sensation go through her entire body, as if Lucas was passing something through into her body. At the same time, she felt like Lucas' presence was ever so slightly less powerful. Which meant-
"T-this is...?!" Kurumi could feel it. Her already immense power, it felt like it had multiplied by a certain amount between one and two times.
"I've...passed you some of my strength." Lucas strained to speak.
"W-why?! You're badly injured..! Why did you-"
Lucas shook his head slightly. "You're the only one...can take this on from me.... Don't worry about me. Go help them....our friends." He spoke, forcing every ounce of strength out of his throat.
Kurumi clenched her fist, pressing it against her chest, and nodded. "Yeah... I will save Tohka and the others... Leave it to me."
◇
"...Huh?" Shidou blinked rapidly in the darkness.
He had been swallowed up by Kurumi's shadow, but his mind and his body still seemed to be intact at the very least.
Frowning, he looked around. There was only a vast inky shadow in all directions. He couldn't see anything else.
"Is this... I can't actually be in Kurumi's shadow, can I?"
"Aah! Honestly! What is going oooon?! Where am I?"
He heard a familiar voice from behind, so he turned around and looked in that direction.
"Miku?!"
"...Mm!" Miku had also spotted Shidou. For a moment, her eyes were round in surprise, but the shock on her face was quickly replaced by disgust, and she threw her head back as if to scream.
But that action was stopped before it could begin. The shadow filling the area tangled itself around her.
"Eee?!" Miku flinched.
A muffled voice came at them from nowhere and everywhere. "You mustn't get up to any mischief, Miku."
The quiet laughter of several people echoed in the darkness.
"Now then, I've kept my first promise. The rest is in your hands, Shidou. However, we don't have much time. Please do hurry."
"Uh. Right..." Shidou's cheeks twitched helplessly.
Kurumi had indeed promised to get him alone with Miku, but he couldn't help feeling that her methods were a bit forceful. Or that she could have at least explained all this to him beforehand.
But this likely would have been the only way to come face-to-face with Miku when she was guarded by her immense army and the Spirits Yoshino and the Yamai sisters. Shidou considered the situation and turned back to Miku.
"Miku."
"...Hmph." Miku whirled her head away.
She didn't show any signs of attacking him- perhaps because she more or less understood the situation she was in-but she was clearly not interested in hearing him out regardless. She scowled unhappily and crossed her arms, as if to say they had nothing to discuss.
Shidou stepped over to stand in front of her and bowed deeply. "First, let me apologize for lying to you. I'm really sorry!"
She glanced at him and then sniffed haughtily.
"You're the worst. Absolutely the woooorst. After hiding the fact that you're a boy to do this and that to me, you have the audacity to show me that disgusting thing!" she said, her hands trembling.
"...No, you were the one who did those things. And you insisted on looking-"
"What are you trying to say?!" she snapped.
"O-oh..." He quickly shook his head. He didn't need to go saying anything extra and getting her all bent out of shape. "I was wrong to lie to you! But...please don't drag all those people into this! Release everyone under your control right away, and Yoshino, and Kaguya and Yuzuru-"
"Shut. Uuuuuup!" Miku tore at her hair and shouted, sounding very worked up. "Please be quiet please do not taaaalk! Y-you embarrassed me so much, and now you're making demands?! I do not want to hear a word from you!"
"M-Miku-"
"Please do not act so familiar with me!" Miku yanked her face away.
"H-hey."
"..."
"Miku."
"..."
She was completely unapproachable. This was a problem he needed to solve before he could even begin to get to the heart of why he needed to talk to her.
That was why Kurumi hadn't told him to persuade her to their cause.
He just needed her not to interfere when they tried to rescue Tohka.
If he could make her promise that, then Shidou would have fulfilled his bare-minimum role here.
"Miku. You can stay like that. Just listen to me."
"..."
Miku gave no reply. But Shidou continued speaking anyway.
"Tohka-When we were onstage, there was a girl playing the tambourine, right? That's her. I'm sure you noticed, but Tohka's a Spirit, too, just like Yoshino and the Yamai sisters. And you must have seen it, Miku. Tohka was abducted by a DEM Wizard."
"...!"
Perhaps this triggered something in her or maybe she was simply reacting to the word Spirit, but at any rate, the completely unresponsive Miku had just twitched the slightest bit.
"I...I'm going to rescue her," Shidou said.
"...Huh?" Miku turned just her head and spoke at last. Although her face was adorned with the most displeased expression yet. "Rescue? Why would you go and do that?"
"Why? Because Tohka's important to me, obviously," he replied.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she snorted in contemptuous laughter. " 'Important,' he says. Oh, I seeee. Is that how it is? But there's just one thing I don't understand. She is indeed a beautiful girl, and honestly, I have to say you're seriously out of your depth.
"
"...Huh?" Shidou cocked his head to one side, unable to grasp what Miku was saying.
"I mean, you're simply lamenting the loss of someone who will take care of your sexual urges. Buuuut it all comes to naught if you die, you know? They do say where there's life, there's a way."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked, dazed, forgetting to object to the rude nature of her statement.
"I meeean, when a man says important, it always really means that, doesn't it?"
"...You have some serious prejudices, huh?" Shidou said, frowning.
"Ha!" Miku jerked her chin up, scornfully. "So what then? Are you saying that this Tohka girl is moooore important than your own life?"
"Of course." He didn't even have to think about that one.
"..."
Perhaps Miku hadn't expected this. She twisted up her face in a way he'd never seen before.
Regardless, Shidou continued speaking.
"No matter what happens, no matter what I have to do, I'm going to rescue Tohka. And when I do, I'm going to come back here. Next time, I can come alone, without Kurumi. So Miku, would you please wait quietly until then without doing any more damage?"
"...Uh?" Miku sounded displeased, her hatred still clear on her face. "Are you telling me to truuuust you? More importantly, eeeeeven if you're not lying, you won't be able to reach Tohka, will you? You'll just get killed along the way by some Wizard. So sorry, so sad, rest in peace."
"That's-" Shidou tried to argue as Miku clasped her hands together in front of her chest, like she was making fun of him, but then he stopped himself. Or rather he was forced to stop.
To be honest, he couldn't entirely rule that possibility out.
It was true that he currently had the aid of Kurumi, who possessed the strength of literally more than a hundred people. But that didn't mean DEM would be a walk in the park. Even if he was able to get Tohka out safely, he had absolutely no guarantee that he personally would come out unscathed.
If he at least had one more person on his side. If he could gain the assistance of a Spirit, then it would be a different story...
"Ah!" Shidou yelped.
He didn't know how Miku interpreted this cry, but she lifted her chin up, seemingly triumphant.
"Do you understand at laaast? That's right. There's no way you can make a promise like that. So then-"
"Right," he interrupted her. "A promise."
Her cheeks twitched in doubt and displeasure. "That's what I've been saying this whooooole time."
"Not that. I'm talking about a promise that's already been made. The promise that you have to keep."
"Me?" Miku said, annoyed, as she cocked her head to one side, and then gasped.
"Looks like you've remembered," he said quietly, staring into her eyes. "Come on, you promised. You said if we won on the first day of the Tenou Festival, you'd let me seal your Spirit power."
This had to have been a sore spot that Miku didn't want poked. Bringing it up again risked another temper tantrum from Miku and could trigger an explosion of violence.
Except that, right now, Miku and Shidou were inside Kurumi's shadow, where absolutely no act of violence was permitted. There was no better place to carry out negotiations as equals. Miku also had to have understood this.
Gritting her teeth with irritation, she turned sharp eyes on him. "Th-that promise isn't valid! You hid the fact that you're a boy-"
"And I apologized for that. But what does the fact that I'm a boy have to do with your promise?"
"Unh... I-I was the one who won the performance division!"
"Yup. You totally did," he said curtly. "But the winner is the one who took the grand prize. Weird. Aren't you actually the liar here?"
"That's absurd! A-and I mean, sealing my Spirit powers... I will never, neeeeeeever let you do that!" Miku shouted. There was no longer any reasoned argument here. She was simply pitching a fit.
However, backing Miku into a corner wasn't his goal here. If he pushed any harder, she would only become more entrenched in her position. He held out a hand as a peace offering.
"Yeah? Well then, let's make a deal. We can change the promise to seal your Spirit power to something else."
"Something else?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Uh-huh. If you do just one thing for me, we'll call it square," he said, holding up his index finger.
"What are you talking abouuut?" Miku scowled, not hiding a bit of her hatred. "That won't change anyth-"
"Help me rescue Tohka."
"Huh?" Her eyes grew wide. All the refusal and guardedness on her face slipped away. "Th-that's your condition?"
"Yeah, it is." He nodded. "I hate to admit it, but you're right. I don't know if I'll be able to actually rescue Tohka, even with Kurumi's help. But if you were there, too, we might be able to make it happen!"
"Buuut... Your goal is to seal my Spirit powers, right? So why would you do this?"
"I told you. Because that's how important Tohka is to me," Shidou replied simply.
"...!"
Miku scowled again. Almost as though to say she didn't believe him.
"Hmph! I refuuuse! First of all, why should I do that anyway?!"
"M-Miku..."
"I've had enough! I do not want to hear anything you have to say! It's all lies! You have ulterior motives! A selfish creature like a human being would never care that much about anyone!"
"Miku, you're going on about that again?!" Shidou clenched his hands and frowned in disgust. Even after he'd learned her secret from Kurumi, he still didn't understand this about her. "Why do you look down on human beings like this?! I mean, you're-"
A ray of light shone into the world of inky darkness, interrupting him.
"...?!"
When he looked up, he saw something like a crack in the black space and stiffened unconsciously.
For a second, he thought maybe Miku's shouts had caused the shadow to break. But if that really were the case, it seemed highly unlikely he would simply be standing there unscathed, not when he was so close to her. And Miku herself was also looking around like she had no idea what had happened.
Just as a question mark popped up above his head, he heard Kurumi's voice coming from somewhere.
"I apologize for the rude interruption. Unfortunately, our time here is up."
"Huh? Wh-whoa?!"
"Eee?!"