"You forgot to divide by x."
"Huh? Wait, where?"
"Right here."
The two girls, Aika and Ai, were sitting together in the library after school. Aika was helping Ai study, going over the math homework she had just finished and looking for mistakes in her work, and now she was showing her where she had gone wrong. Her purple hair was cascading down her back and the front of her shoulders; there was no light coming from the windows behind them, as it was raining quite heavily at the moment. Instead, the lights on the ceiling were lighting the room around them. She was looking at Ai's homework, a pen in her hand, scratching markings, and circling certain parts she was talking about. Ai wasn't paying attention. Not on purpose of course; the light red on her cheeks being obvious, she was distracted, thinking of Aika.
"Ai."
"Huh?"
"Pay attention."
"R-Right, sorry."
"...Sigh, I think we've done enough today. I'll lend you my work, and you can compare them tonight."
"Oh, thanks."
"Just make sure you actually look over them. I will quiz you on it tomorrow."
"Eck"
"Haha, come on, let's get going."
They packed up their work, with Aika passing her homework to Ai. When they got to the front of the school, Aika pulled her umbrella out of her bag and stepped into the rain. Luckily, it wasn't windy. Ai reached into her bag, but stopped.
"Ai? What are you doing?"
"Um... I forgot my umbrella."
"Haha, of course you did. Come on, get under."
Ai ran out, getting a little wet in the process, but quickly made it beside Aika.
"...I was gonna walk over so you didn't have to get wet."
"Oh, haha, right."
"Jeez, come on, I'll walk you home."
"Hehe, thanks."
Ai walked shoulder to shoulder with Aika, a small blush on her face, and the two talked as they moved.
"How are you doing?"
"Huh, what do you mean?"
"Your crush, silly."
"O-Oh, right. I think it's going okay."
"That's good, I hope it works out for you."
"Well, I don't know if it will, she already has a crush on someone else."
"Sorry... But I guess we're both in that situation."
"Yeah... Um, how's it going with Tobiichi-san?" She regretted asking as soon as the words came out of her mouth.
"Still trying to get over it, but she makes it so difficult."
"Uh huh..."
The two walked in silence for a bit, only the pitter-patter of the rain on the umbrella and the gentle splashes in the shallow puddles they walked through being the consistent noise. Both of their thoughts were elsewhere: Aika's on Tobiichi, and Ai's on Aika. As the two turned onto Ai's street, Aika was the one to break the silence.
"Make sure you actually study, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Ai, I'm serious. I don't want you to be held back a year and end up in a different class than me."
"Jeez, okay, I'll study." She said as her cheeks turned pink.
"Hmm, if you manage to pass the quiz I give you tomorrow, we can go for ice cream, my treat."
"Really? I'm gonna hold you to that."
"Haha, go on, get inside and study. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Mhm, Bye-bye."
Ai entered her house, watching Aika walk away. She closed the door and ran up to her room, opening her bag and taking out the papers from earlier. She had to pass the quiz; after all, the reward was an ice cream date. But it wasn't just the papers she took out; there was one more thing, a small folded-up umbrella, which she placed on her desk.
At the same time, Itsuka Shido was in Tobiichi Origami's apartment, searching for Yoshinon, the rabbit puppet that sat on Hermit's hand. The two of them were sitting on the floor at a small table, Tobiichi wearing nothing but a towel in an attempt to seduce Itsuka Shido.
"Tobiichi, have you ever talked to a spirit?"
"...Yes."
"Then surely you understand that they are humans too, and not all of them have bad intentions?"
"...They are dangerous. They carry immense power and create space quakes when they appear."
"So what?!"
"...Shido, did you know that Himari-san is a spirit?"
"Yeah..."
"...When she appeared, I was angry. She had been so close for over a month, and all that time she was a monster I had sworn to kill. But when I tried to kill her, she spared me."
"..."
"I don't want to kill her. But as long as she keeps creating space quakes, she is dangerous; she could cause one at school, killing everyone there."
"...Then why haven't you killed her yet?"
"...I don't know."
Bzzzzzt. The buzz from a phone on Tobiichi's shelf interrupted them.
"A mission. I have to go, get to a shelter."
"Origami. One last question. If, like Tohka, a spirit lost their powers, would you still go after them?"
"...It's not what I desire, but I cannot ignore the orders of my superiors and act on my own accord."
"...Thanks, that's all I wanted to hear."
Aika was walking towards her apartment, the rain splatting against her umbrella and the water splashing gently with each step she took. Her mind wasn't really focused on anything, bouncing between Tobiichi and the quiz she needed to prepare for Ai. She was taken out of her thoughts by a blaring alarm—the space quake alarm. Aika started running, not towards her home, but away from everything, trying to get out of the city, just in case the space quake was from her. She passed people who were running to the shelters who looked at her, confused. But she kept running until she was at the outskirts of the city. She wasn't sure when, too distracted with just getting as far away as possible, but she had dropped her umbrella.
She took shelter under a tree and waited... But nothing happened. Seeing that she wasn't the source of the space quake, she quickly changed into her astral dress, and dashed into the city. The rain was coming down harder now—still not a downpour, but far more than when she walked Ai home. She moved through the city, running faster than a normal person, but not blinking at a speed impossible to comprehend. She wasn't using that ability for two reasons: one, it was difficult to control, and two, she wanted to see what was going on, and it was impossible to comprehend your surroundings while moving at such a speed.
There wasn't much to see. The streets were undamaged, and the buildings were still standing strong. If there was a space quake in the city, it certainly didn't occur here. The sound of gunfire caught her attention, and she sprinted through the streets and alleyways, peeking her head around the corner to see what was happening. She spotted two AST in the air, recognizing the white bob cut of one of them. There was a small girl, wearing a light green raincoat which she recognized as well, but didn't remember where. The girl was on her hands and knees as one of the AST opened fire. The bullets flew quickly, and before Aika could even step in to help, the girl's voice echoed in the air.
"ZADKIEL!!!"
It was a scream of fear and desperation, and a cloud of white erupted around her. Before the cloud could clear, it was obvious that something had appeared—a large silhouette in the cloud, with a red glow piercing through at the top of whatever the girl summoned. Aika's eyes widened as the cloud cleared, and she finally got a good look at what the raincoat girl had summoned. A large white rabbit stood in the middle of the street, with glowing red eyes, and the surrounding buildings only reached its shoulders. The summoned beast was standing on its hind legs, glaring at the two AST hovering in the sky. The creature's teeth were large, sharp, and pointed, sticking out of the mouth the same way a crocodile's would. There looked to be something like seams and stitches along the rabbit's body, as if it were a plushy and not a living being.
Aika spared a glance at the AST, but she couldn't read them; they were too high up for her to get a look at their faces. Her attention was brought back to the beast by a low rumble, its mouth slightly open as a light blue glow appeared in its mouth. The air around Aika chilled, and she watched as everything around the rabbit froze. The trees, the buildings, the streets, the power lines strewn through the air—all of it was coated in a layer of ice. She didn't even have time to fully comprehend what happened as two new AST opened fire from behind the creature. The beast turned around, and Aika saw the raincoat girl hanging from the back of the rabbit's head. It opened its mouth, a blinding white light radiating from its mouth. The light got brighter and brighter, before condensing in on itself and being fired from the beast's mouth as a ray of light. It blasted the two AST that just attacked it, freezing them in balls of ice that plummeted to the ground. The rabbit ran, dashing through the streets of the city, with the initial AST chasing after it, and Aika just stood there, eyes wide in shock. She had finally seen a spirit in action, and it was far more powerful than she had expected.
She tried to run after them, but the moment she took a step, she slipped. The ice made it near impossible to walk or run after them. "Damn it. How am I gonna go after them?" She thought to herself. She was on her hands and knees, and an idea ran through her head. She lifted her arm up, attempting to channel lightning into her hands. Purple lightning sparked around her hand, and she smashed her palm onto the icy floor. The lightning arced out from her hand, spreading over the ice, but it didn't melt. Her thoughts raced as she tried to come up with a way to chase after them. "I have to move above the ice... But how am I going to do that? ...Can I fly? I haven't tried it, so it might be possible..."
Her mind went to how she saw the AST floating in the air and how their mechanical suits made them float. She focused her power—not the lightning that came from it, but the source of the lightning itself—deep within her. Her eyes were closed as she regulated her breathing. She started to feel lighter, and as she slowly opened her eyes, the icy ground she had been kneeling on was slowly drifting further away.
"H-HUH?!"
But the moment she shouted, she came crashing down onto the icy ground.
"Ugh..."
She climbed back onto her hands and knees and focused again, focusing on the feeling she had before she opened her eyes. This time, she kept her eyes open as she started to float, making sure to maintain her focus. She floated a small distance above the ground and started trying to control her movements. The feeling was strange, like in a pool of water, which she could not feel. She slowly inched forward, not even having to move her body to move through the air, as it seemed whatever let her fly was also what helped her move. Next, she moved backwards, then left, then right, and finally, she turned. It was surprisingly easy to control. Finally, she flew up. And up. And up. Well above the buildings, terror rippled through her. She wasn't particularly scared of heights, but when you're above every single building around you with nothing under your feet, it's impossible not to be scared. Her eyes scoured the city, searching for the rabbit. It didn't take long to spot it, seemingly stopped in front of a building, looking at someone on it.
But she didn't notice the AST floating behind the person on the roof, only seeing the shot they fired at the rabbit, creating a blinding light where it hit. More AST appeared from between the buildings, continuing their assault. Aika floated in the air, watching from a distance as the rabbit charged up its beam attack from earlier, the same one which froze the AST. The attack was aimed at the person on the roof; she wanted to help them, but what could she do against an attack like that? Probably something, but she didn't understand her powers enough to be confident about that. So, all she could do was watch.
The rabbit fired its ice, a solid beam tumbling towards the person on the roof, but just before it hit them, something appeared from the ground, blocking the attack. The rabbit bolted away, with all the AST chasing after it. Someone flew through the air, landing on the roof alongside the other person, and Aika followed after them, wanting to see what was going on. As she got closer, she recognized the two on the roof: Itsuka Shido and Yatogami Tohka. She flew towards them, crashing into the roof of the building and interrupting their conversation.
"Huh?!" Itsuka shouted in surprise at the girl who just crashed into the roof.
"Shido! Get back!"
"Ugh... I should've practiced the landing..."
"Wait... Himari-san?!"
"Hi Ituska-kun."
"Huh? Himari-san? From school?"
"Yeah... Hi Yatogami-san."
"Shido, what's going on?"
"Himari-san is also a spirit."
"...Huh?!"
"Hehe, hi."
"We don't have time." Itsuka said, gesturing to the swirling storm of snow in the city. "Himari-san, please help me save Yoshino."
"...Is that the girl that summoned the rabbit?"
"Yes! Please, help..."
"...Alright, but you owe me."
"Thank you."
"So, what's the plan?"
"...I need you to distract the AST, then Tohka can get me close to the storm, and I can go in there and save her."
"Shido! That's too dangerous!"
"Tohka, I'll be okay. So can you do it?"
"...When you see them chasing me, get in there and save her. You might not be able to help me, but I don't want anyone else to have to worry about whether or not they're gonna explode any time soon."
"Thank you, I'll be sure to pay you back."
"Yeah, yeah. Just come back alive so you can repay your debt." Aika said as she started floating in the air. She immediately started moving towards the storm, leaving the two on the roof.
Aika was floating above, looking at the AST discussing the swirling snowstorm in front of them. They seemed to be contemplating what to do; one of them moved to do something. Aika could recognize that white bob anywhere. She watched as Tobiichi stuck her hands out at a nearby building, creating a large green bubble within it, tearing it apart, and balancing the top floor of the building on it. Aika caught on pretty quickly; she was planning on throwing the building into the blizzard to attack the spirit. "Smart."
Aika quickly maneuvered through the air, summoning her weapon as she did. She flew in line with the attack, taking note of Tobiichi now in the air and launching the desecrated building directly at her. As the building flew towards her, she breathed in, and just before the building hit, she swung. An arc of lightning appeared from her katana, slicing the building in half and continuing on, just missing Tobiichi.
"Sorry! But I can't let you do that!" Aika shouted, making sure all the AST turned their attention to her.
"Himari-san." Tobiichi muttered before pulling out her energy sword and flying towards Aika. The two clashed in midair, with Tobiichi swinging down at Aika, who blocked with the flat of her blade.
"I told you I would kill you if you hurt anyone again."
"Well, I'm here to make sure no one gets hurt." She moved her body and used her sword to make Tobiichi follow through on the pressure she was applying. Moving behind her, she noticed the rest of the AST looking to follow her, and the moment they took to the air, she flew away. Thankfully, they all chased after her, so she dove into the streets, trying to get them to chase after her. Three did, and the moment they got close, she used the ability she had in her first proper fight. The lightning web surrounded her, invisible to the naked eye and so faint no one could feel it. The moment the three girls were all inside it, she forced a stronger current through, enough to knock out the girls and disable their equipment but not enough to seriously hurt them. The three fell to the ground; another reason she brought the fight down, to make sure they wouldn't get hurt from the fall.
But it seemed that her little stunt may have backfired partially, as the three remaining AST started to rain bullets down at her. She instinctively raised her hand, an invisible barrier stopping the bullets—an ability she didn't even know she had. The barrage was constant, with the three AST in the air making sure that someone was always attacking while the others were reloading. Aika didn't know how long she could maintain this barrier for, and she didn't want to wait around to find out, so she flew as fast as she could, head first towards the closest attacker, a woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail. She flew faster than anticipated, crashing into the girl and knocking the both of them out of the air. The girl struggled as the two plummeted to the ground. Aika used the same lightning web she did before, disabling the girl's equipment and knocking her out so she could focus on flying and making sure the black-haired girl made it safely to the ground. She then turned her attention to the two still in the air: Tobiichi Origami and a brown-haired girl she did not recognize.
Both of them aimed their guns at Aika, but did not shoot as she was still standing by their teammate. She stood for a moment, quickly coming up with a plan.
She wanted to talk to Tobiichi and avoid fighting her, so she turned her focus to the brown-haired girl. She was shaking; it wasn't easy to notice, but it's not surprising seeing as Aika managed to take down most of her team without suffering a single blow. Aika flew at the brown-haired girl, but she moved to the side, causing her to fly past her. The two AST trailed her with their guns, releasing a torrent of bullets. She flew through the air, dodging the bullets being fired at her, before she used her katana to send a slash of lightning at the brown-haired girl. It cut through the bullets, and the girl tried to fly away from the slash, but she wasn't fast enough. The lightning struck her back, disabling her suit and causing her to start falling from the sky. Tobiichi stopped her assault, shocked at what had just happened. Aika used the pause in the attack to rush over to the falling girl, catching her before she could crash to the floor. After placing the unconscious girl on the ground, she turned to Tobiichi Origami. She was glaring at Aika, teeth clenched and brows furrowed, as the rain that had been in the air came to a stop.
"Tobiichi-san, we don't have to-" She moved her sword to block the incoming strike. Tobiichi's energy blade clashed against Aika's katana. The strike followed along the line of the block, crashing into the ground next to Aika.
"Tobiichi! Stop!"
"Shut up!" She pulled up her blade and spun it around for a strike against Aika's undefended side. Aika stepped around her blade as Tobiichi's clashed into it.
Aika didn't want to fight her, but it seemed like Tobiichi wasn't ready to talk. She continued to block her relentless attacks, not counterattacking. It was as if her body knew what to do, seeing as Aika had no idea how to properly use a sword.
"Tobiichi-"
"SHUT UP SPIRIT!"
Aika, finally realizing that there is no talking to her at the moment, did the same thing she did before, sending out a small lightning web, then sending a stronger wave of lightning through the web. But she made it slightly stronger than she intended. Tobiichi froze as the lightning coursed through her body before collapsing. But before she could hit the ground, Aika caught her.
"I'm sorry..." She whispered to her, knowing she couldn't hear it.
"Himari-san! We're finished!" Yatogami Tohka called out from the air. Slightly shocked that Aika had been able to wipe out an entire AST squadron on her own.
"Mhm, I'll be right there!" Aika was sitting on her knees, the white-haired Tobiichi still unconscious, her head on Aika's lap. She lifted Tobiichi's head up and placed her gently on the ground, before flying up to Tohka in the sky.
"Did... did you defeat them all by yourself?"
"Yeah, now let's hurry back to Itsuka-kun, I wanna wrap this up and get some sleep."
"R-Right."
Tohka led her to where Itsuka last was, but he wasn't there.
"Hm, guess he left. Remind him that he owes me when you next see him."
"Wait. Um... why can Shido not save you?"
"Cause I'm different. See you around Yatogami-san."
"Call me Tohka."
"Alright, see you around, Tohka-chan."
"Bye, Aika-san."
Aika's astral dress turned into her signature purple lightning, reforming into her school outfit. By this point, the sun was setting, and she just wanted to go home and sleep.
"Wait, I still have to prepare that quiz... Ugh, this is annoying."
She didn't make it very far before her phone rang.
"Hey Ai."
"Are you okay?!"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"I've been calling you for the past hour, and you never picked up!"
"Oh, sorry, spirit stuff, you know?"
"Just... Just don't worry me like that again."
"Haha, alright. How did your study go?"
"You think I was able to study? The alarm went off, and then you wouldn't answer your phone."
"I get it. I'll tone back the quiz tomorrow, but make sure you study a bit tonight, wouldn't wanna miss out on free ice cream."
"...That's not the point..." She muttered under her breath, too quiet for Aika to hear.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Nothing, just get some rest, I'm sure you're exhausted after whatever spirit stuff you had to do."
"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, goodnight Aika."
"Goodnight, Ai."