Chapter Text
Wet dreams.
For young men, they signify the start of a long and hard journey, filled to the hilt with sticky situations and hormonal indiscretions, culminating in the sweaty satisfaction of sweet release.
Shidou, however, was not having such dreams.
Instead, he dreamt of a chaste moment with his beloved.
There they stood, the setting sun casting a warm glow as they gazed into each other's eyes. The gentle sound of the ocean waves seemed to drown out everything else, so that nothing seemed to exist save them.
It made for such a romantic scene.
Holding the hand of his beloved, Shidou smiled softly.
"I love you, so much…"
"And I love you too… Big brother…"
Having affirmed their love for each other, they leaned in, their lips drawing nearer, until…
…
Wait, big brother?
Shidou's eyes snapped open, not to the sight of his fated beloved, but instead to a familiar face surrounded by red hair.
Specifically, it was his sister, perched atop the covers and straddling his hips. His face was in her hands and their lips were mere centimeters apart.
"Kotori?" Shidou mumbled. "What are you doing?"
With a start, the girl jerked back, her eyes bugging out of their sockets as she clutched her hands to her chest.
"Sh-Shidou?! You're awake?"
"Well, it is the first day of school. So yeah, I am."
Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Shidou sat up as best he could before appraising the compromising situation he'd woken to.
"Anyway, can I ask what you're doing on top of me?"
In response, Kotori put on an awkward smile and averted her eyes.
"Uh, well, I figured you'd sleep in late, since it's the first day. So, like the good little sister I am, I thought I'd come wake you up."
Here, a blush accompanied her words as her gaze drifted downwards.
"But it looked like something else already woken up…"
This statement knocked all the sleep out of Shidou's eyes. He belatedly realized that he was sporting quite the rod of morning wood between Kotori's thighs.
With a provocative smile, the girl regarded her brother with half-lidded eyes.
"Do you… need a hand with that?" she asked. And then ground her crotch against his hips.
"For the last time, no!"
Shidou rolled with a swiftness born of exhaustion, sending Kotori tumbling down onto the carpet.
Immediately, she shot to her hands and knees.
"Hey, is that any way to treat your darling little sister who was just trying to make sure all of you was awake for you first day of schoo—"
Beep! Beep!
The high-pitched sound of the alarm that Shidou had set the night before to make sure he woke up for his first day of school rang through the bedroom.
Quietly, Shidou turned off the alarm.
"Thanks for the thought but, as you can see, I already had that covered."
Kotori got to her feet, straightened her school uniform, and then cleared her throat.
"Understandable. I'll be in the kitchen getting things ready for breakfast."
With that curt response, she left the room, her twin-tails — and the white ribbons keeping them in place — streaming behind her. A moment passed before Shidou let out a long-suffering sigh.
If there was one thing Shidou Itsuka would never understand, it was that old chestnut known as the incest fetish.
How did that sh*t even get started in the first place?
It had to be guys without sisters. Only they could possibly find the fantasy appealing. In the real world, there was nothing hot about being hit on by your own little sister.
Oh, oh! And then there’s the girls actually taking cues from this stuff!
Case in point, his sister, who fancied herself some kind of enfant seductress. Ever since spring break, she'd been making lewd advances at him, a la the fiasco just now, as well as suggestively sucking on lollipops, "forgetting" to close the door while changing, and even once going out shopping without her underwear.
I swear, young girls these days are getting way too sexual…
He'd probably get reamed by the lolicon lovers of the world for that, but if an opinion like that made him "old-fashioned", then he'd be old-fashioned till the cows came home.
Ranting in his head like this, Shidou prepared for the day.
"Early this morning, a small spacequake occurred near the outskirts of Tenguu City, in the North District. The AST are expected to begin repairs by…"
The morning news played in the background as Shidou prepared breakfast in the kitchen. A frown tugged at his lips as he opened the fridge.
Spacequakes, huh…
They'd been getting more frequent as of late.
"Hey, Kotori. Do you remember where all the nearby shelters are?"
"Yeah, yeah." Kotori answered from the couch. "There's the one down the street and to the left. And there's also the one a few minutes south."
While Shidou did not appreciate the dismissive tone she said this with, something else about her voice caught his attention. He began pacing towards the couch.
"Alright, alright. Seems you know your stuff." His hand shot out towards the lollipop sticking out of Kotori's mouth. "And yet you don't know not to eat sweets before breakfast!"
The two struggled like this for a bit as Shidou tried to yank the thing out of her mouth. He eventually gave in, planting his hands on his hips and pinning his sister with a stern glare.
"Alright, fine. Just, make sure you eat breakfast, okay?"
Taking the lollipop out of her mouth, Kotori just put on a simpering grin.
"Of course, Shidou! I'd swallow anything from my big bro~!"
A sigh.
"Honestly, I should wash that mouth out with soap…"
Having lost the battle and the war, Shidou retreated to the kitchen to finish making breakfast.
Outside, a cool wind blew the last of the cherry blossoms along the sidewalk. Walking side by side, the Itsuka siblings made their way to school.
Apropos of nothing, Kotori latched onto her brother's arm, pressing her modest chest against it.
"Hey, Shidou, since it's the first day of school, let's celebrate!"
Shidou sent a bemused look Kotori's way.
"Hmm? Do people usually celebrate random years of school?"
"Well, no. But it's been ages since we've done anything fun together!"
"Well who's fault is that?" Shidou wriggled free of his sister's grasp. "Aren't you the one who's always busy with that extracurricular of yours?"
He remembered this fact clearly because it was just about the only time he got any reprieve from Kotori's antics.
"Stop poking holes in my logic! Anyway, I want to go to Danny's and get the Deluxe kid's plate!"
"So it was all just a ploy to go to Danny's…"
Despite his reluctant attitude, Shidou was seriously considering it. It was true that the two of them hadn't spent any quality time together in a while. In fact, since spring break had begun, Shidou could count on one hand the number of meaningful conversations they'd had. And no, trying to get in his pants did not count.
"You know what, yeah let's do it. It's been way too long since we did anything fun together."
"Really?! No going back on your promise, okay! You have to come, even if an earthquake happens! And a spacequake! And terrorists storm the place!"
"Somehow, I'm less afraid of the quakes and more afraid of the terrorists who would storm a place in that scenario."
"Quit stalling!" Kotori shook him. "Answer the question!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you there. Right after school lets out."
Kotori's face lit up before she began jumping up and down in glee, her twin-tails bouncing about in her wake.
"Yay! I love you so much big brother! You're the best!"
Watching this over-the-top display from his little sister, Shidou couldn't help but crack a put-upon smile.
This was his daily life. Waking up and getting dressed, making breakfast for an overly affectionate little sister, attending school with his friends. To be honest, it was a life he wouldn't change for the world.
Well, almost.
Back when Japan's declining birth rate was still an unsolved issue, one of the prevailing scapegoats for its cause were so-called "herbivore" men. Characterized by their passive and indifferent attitude towards sex and dating in favor of 2D waifus and figurines, this subspecies of man displaced their more "carnivorous" peers, resulting in fewer marriages and, more importantly, fewer babies.
Eventually — and after many failed attempts — the matter was finally resolved, but not before the unintended introduction of carnivore women into the social ecosystem who, unlike their male counterparts, were largely pack hunters.
One such pack hunter, Ai Yamabuki, threw an arm over the backrest of her chair, her legs spread casually as she addressed her fellow packmates.
"So, ladies, what are we thinking? Wanna see that guy again?"
Mai Hazakura, who was seated behind Ai, pressed a finger to her chin in thought.
"I don't know… He really knew how to move his hips, but he's a little too beefy for my tastes."
Behindherwas Mii Fujibakama, whose bespectacled face rested snugly atop her palms.
"What's with the pronoun game? Don't tell me you already forgot his name?"
Ai let out an apologetic laugh.
"To be honest, I never got his name in the first place…"
"Kishiwada?" Mii gawked at that. "And after you were all over him!"
Mai nudged her with an elbow and a sly smile.
"What are you saying, girl? You were the loudest one there!"
The girls shared a laugh together as some stragglers filed into the room. One of these stragglers, a young man with short, waxed hair, strolled up to the three after setting his supplies down at his desk.
"Hi there, sorry to interrupt, but you looked so beautiful over here, I just had to come over and say hello."
He was speaking to Mai, and the girl blinked at the unexpected attention.
"Oh. Um, hello. I'm Mai Hazakura."
The young man pulled out the seat of a nearby desk, resting his arms on the backrest as he sat in it.
"The name's Hiroto, by the way. Hiroto Tonomachi."
Tonomachi, wannabe playboy that he was, was currently trying to court year 2's resident queen bees, also known as the Ai-Mai-Mii Trio. Shidou, who had been discreetly reading from his terminal near the back of the class, discreetly turned his gaze to the unfolding train wreck before him.
Blushing at Tonomachi’s gaze, Mai gave his body a not-so-subtle once over. The boy was lean, well-built but not too brawny.
"Hiroto, was it?" With a slight smile, she brushed back her short locks. "This is our first year together, right? I'm sure I would have noticed someone like you."
It seemed she liked what she saw.
"That's right." Tonomachi flashed an easy smile of his own. "This is my first year here. What about you?"
"This is my second," Mai answered as she idly tugged at the collar of her blazer as if to fan herself. "Say, let's cut to the chase. If you're free this weekend, why don't we get together and… get to know each other a lot better?
Tonomachi ran a hand smoothly threw his waxed hair.
"Sounds like a plan."
From his vantage point on the other side of the room, Shidou raised an incredulous eyebrow. Things were actually going surprisingly well, all things considered.
"Hey, what about us, new guy?"
"Yeah. We're here too, ya know?"
At either side of Mai, Ai and Mii introduced themselves. Hiroto balked at the sudden intrusion.
"Well, I was more just talking to Mai…"
"Excuse me?!"
"What, are you just trying to get her alone so you can have your way with her?!"
Thereit was.
"What? No! I was just—"
Tonomachi tried to argue his case, but Mai was having none of it.
"The three of us are a packaged set, alright? You f*ck one of us, you f*ck all of us, okay?"
"f*ck?! I wasn't even trying to—"
"I mean seriously, don't you realize how dangerous that can be for women?"
"Right? Anything can happen and then it's just a he said, she said!"
"That'ssosick!"
Unable to get a word in edgewise, Tonomachi was pummeled by the Ai-Mai-Mii Trio's verbal assault. Devastated by this three-hit combo, he slunk back to his desk in front of Shidou and collapsed into it.
"Damn. And things were going so well. I was following that pickup guide and everything…"
With a surreptitious motion, Shidou carefully closed his terminal and folded it back into his desk.
"Why did you think that would work? Changing your hairstyle and reading some crappy pickup advice isn't gonna make you some lady-killer."
"Eh, well." Tonomachi perked up. "You win some, you lose some. What's important is that you take your shot."
Shidou was almost envious of his friend’s blind optimism. He was just about to say as much when he suddenly ducked away and hid his face behind a folder.
"sh*t. She's here."
"Huh?" Tonomachi craned his neck around. "Who are you—Oh."
Standing at the front of the classroom, speaking with their diminutive homeroom teacher, was oneOrigamiTobiichi.
Boasting top scores in academics, unparalleled athletic prowess, and a beautiful figure to boot, Origami was perhaps the most talked about second year at Raizen High. Not that the girl herself seemed to care.
Her cold demeanor was nearly as legendary and, along with her snow white hair and porcelain skin, had earned her the title "doll" among the gossip circles.
Well, that was the kinder nickname. A certain contingent of the male student body though likening her to a sex doll was a compliment.
None of this mattered to Shidou, who yanked Tonomachi back before Origami could notice him.
"Shut up. She'll hear you."
"Wow. Seeing you actually freak out is something else."
"Yeah, yeah. I just don't want any trouble."
Ignoring Shidou, Tonomachi spoke freely.
"Man, I don't know what you were thinking, turning down an angel like that. If it were me, I'd totally be going to town on her, if you know what I mean!"
He punctuated his words by miming a certain physical activity, slapping his thighs as he thrust his hips.
At the sight of this, Shidou could only sigh as he palmed his face.
"Oh my god.Thisis why you'll stay a virgin."
"No way! You're the one who's gonna be crying when I become a sex god, banging all the ladies!"
In response to his words, several nearby ladies loudly scooted their desks away.
"Somehow, I feel like I'm not gonna be the one crying…"
"But seriously," Tonomachi lowered his voice. "why'd you turn her down so harshly? She just not your type?"
His question prompted Shidou to remember the awkward incident that had caused all this.
The last day of their first year. Origami had asked him out while he was getting his shoes after school. In response, he'd turned her down with a curt "how 'bout no".
Now, this may sound overly harsh, but it should be noted that when she'd done this, it had been with her typical stony face and monotone voice. He honestly hadn't realized she was seriously asking him out. When he'd realized his mistake, Shidou had been genuinely mortified. In his defense, though, the girl had asked him out in just about the most unromantic way imaginable.
Was it too much to ask for a carefully folded letter in the locker, or a rooftop confession against the setting sun? At the very least, Shidou felt that much should be obvious.
In any case, turning Origami down was apparently an unprecedented move, as evidenced by the scathing criticism he'd received then and Tonomachi’s reaction now.
"You should know my stance on this by now. I'm not just looking to date around or get my dick wet. What I'm looking for is love. You know? Passion. Romance."
"Well, how do you know Origami couldn't be that for you?"
"When it's the real thing, you just know. Your eyes meet and you feel this rush of emotion. Just because a girl throws herself at you doesn't mean she's the one."
"Whatever you say…" Tonomachi turned his eyes to the front of the classroom. "Anyway, she's coming right here."
"What?!"
Sure enough, Origami was making a beeline for them. Her eyes were trained on Shidou, leaving no room for doubt about where she was headed.
What was worse was half the class seemed to be watching, and none too subtly at that.
The world slowed to a crawl as Origami approached, her face betraying nothing of what she had on her mind as Shidou’s fears about her response steadily grew in scope and ridiculousness. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he prepared for the worse.
Ah, this is gonna be so embarrassing…
All too quickly, her march brought her to a stop before Shidou's desk.
But, just as Origami opened her mouth—
"A spacequake has been detected in your area. This is not a drill. Please evacuate to your nearest shelter. I repeat…"
The classroom froze at the siren accompanied by those words. Words that they had all heard many times before.
Spacequakes.
Violent distortions in the spacetime fabric that occurred sporadically, devastating everything in their wake.
In the forty years since they'd begun appearing, spacequakes had fundamentally altered the course of society. If it weren't for the sudden and timely arrival of the Realizer, civilization might never have recovered from the First Great Spacequake and the ensuing chaos it wrought upon the world. It was not at allan exaggeration to call what the human race experienced then a global trauma.
"Calm down, everyone! Remember your No-No-No's! No pushing, no running, no talking!"
The frantic voice of Shidou's homeroom teacher, Tamae Okamine, cut through the idle chatter of the students as they lazily filed through the hallways to the school's designated underground shelter.
Of course, for those who had grown up in a post-spacequake world, the phenomenon was nothing more than another natural disaster, akin to earthquakes or tornadoes, and they treated it with the customary glibness of youngsters unaccustomed to tragedy.
Beside Tamae, Tonomachi raised an eyebrow at her antics.
"Um, Teach, I thinkyou'rethe one who needs to calm down…"
"Oh! Yes, yes, of course! I'm the adult in this situation, I need to remain calm!"
She sounded anything but calm. This was her first year on the job, so perhaps such excitability was to be expected.
Near the rear of the group, Shidou was trying unsuccessfully to reach his sister.
Come on, Kotori. Pick up…
A knot in his stomach was forming and it tightened as the third call fell through in as many minutes. It was then that he remembered their promise from that morning.
"You have to come, even if an earthquake happens! And a spacequake! And terrorists storm the place!"
She wouldn't do that. Kotori's smarter than that…
But, even as he thought this, Shidou opened up the map app on his terminal and began scouring the area over the Danny's, hoping against hope that he wouldn't find her there.
She was in front of the diner.
The teardrop icon indicating her location did not move at all as he stared at the screen.
"That idiot!"
Shidou shot towards the exit.
"Wait! Mister Itsuka!"
Behind him, he heard the concerned cry of Tamae, but he carried on regardless.
Shidou was on the streets in no time at all, in a full-on sprint towards his sister.
As he fought through the rapidly growing pain in his legs, Shidou was struck by the familiar sensation of running through the streets in search of his sister.
Yes, something like this had happened five years ago, when a massive fire had broken out in the neighborhood. Shidou had been running towards the house to rescue Kotori, but he'd passed out from the smoke before he could do anything.
Back then, he and his sister had been rescued by firefighters. Now though, something told Shidou that if he did nothing, there'd be no outside intervention.
Damn it! What were you thinking!
Mature as she tried to act, Kotori was still just a kid. That girl could be so headstrong, and it really had been a while since they'd done anything fun together.
But why? Why did it have to be like this!
Was she really so desperate? Was that why she'd been trying to seduce him all summer? A stilted attempt at getting close to him again?
It was while rounding the last corner to the Danny's that Shidou lost his footing, not because he'd tripped over anything, but because the earth beneath his feet rumbled.
This was it. The spacequake was coming.
About a year ago, he almost hadn't made it to a shelter before a spacequake occurred a few blocks away. Then, he'd only felt the ground rumbling like an earthquake.
Now though, he felt the air itself rumble.
He was thrown from his feet, not by wind, but by the buckling of space itself. He hit the asphalt hard and laid there as pain wracked his body.
The thing about spacequakes is that they make very little sound. Most noise produced during one is actually from the destruction of its surroundings.
The intact top of a stop sign clattered noisily to the ground in front of Shidou's prone form. He slowly looked up at the perfect cut where it had intersected the spacequake before shakily getting to his feet and stumbling forward.
Before him was a great crater that had simply replaced the intersection. The remains of cars, sliced in half by the spacequake, toppled noisily over into the crater. A water main was gushing water into the meter deep basin.
Shidou could hardly believe his eyes.
He'd never seen the aftermath of a spacequake so up close and personal, but that was not what had stopped him in his tracks.
What the hell am I looking at?
At the very center of the crater stood a great, geometric throne and an impossibly beautiful, imposing girl with hair the color of the night sky. One of her feet was planted squarely on the arm of the throne, which towered over her. She wore a lonely expression as she regarded Shidou, as well as violet armor and a glowing, sparkling skirt.
Without warning, the girl leapt — or rather flew — on top of the throne and hauled a great sword out from it. Before he could even react, she flew into the air again and swung her broadsword in his direction.
In that same instant, Shidou heard the sounds of a collapsing building behind him. No, from the sounds of it, the entire structure had been reduced to mere rubble before it had even hit the ground.
The girl who had done this with a single swipe of her blade touched down more gently than should have been possible across from Shidou before leveling her broadsword at him.
"Whoa, h-hey!" He threw up his hands in a panic. "W-W-Where are you pointing that thing!"
As her long hair danced in the gust of wind kicked up by her destruction, the girl raised a disdainful eyebrow.
"You're here to kill me?"
"K-Kill?" Shidou waved his arms. "What? N-No, I'm a lover, not a fighter!"
"Lover?" The girl narrowed her eyes. "Quit speaking nonsense. I know you're here to kill me."
So saying, she advanced on Shidou, who stumbled back in retreat before tripping on some rubble and falling on his ass.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait! It's true! I'm just a normal guy! Seriously, I havenoidea what's going on! I was just looking for my sister, I swear!"
As the girl listened to his words, the lonesome look she'd worn since appearing gave way to something Shidou couldn't quite place.
A moment passed and then, with a sudden motion, the girl grabbed a hold of his collar and yanked him to his feet. He stumbled a bit when she released him, warily righting himself before his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he got a good look at her for the first time.
Her attire was a strange blend of knight and princess. Strapped to her shoulders where pauldrons and on her hands were gauntlets, each in regal purples and yellows, and on her legs were black thighhighs that ended in sharp heels.
This, however, was not what caught Shidou’s attention; rather, it was the fact that, save for this, the girl was functionally naked.
Hugging her torso was a black corset, atop which sat her nude breasts, pink nipples and all. Around her waist sprouted a sheer skirt seemingly made of light that fell nearly down to her ankles yet exposed her pubic area, as well as the dark strip of hair there.
It was frankly a bizarre sight, and Shidou struggled not to stare in sheer bafflement as the girl appraised him without any such discretion.
"I'm… Shidou, by the way," he said when he managed to collect himself. "Um… what's your name?"
The girl's eyes moved from his body to his face, and Shidou noticed for the first time the otherworldly, almost iridescent sheen they had. There was a deep resignedness there as she spoke.
"Name? I have no such thing…"
A moment passed and, before Shidou could say anything in response, the girl's face turned fierce once more.
"Get back," she said simply, shooting into the sky without any apparent effort.
Shidou didn't even get the chance to look up before the violent sound of metal against metal reverberated through the demolished intersection.
In the sky, the girl was clashing with wizards from the AST, bearing artillery that Shidou had only ever seen in movies and from said artillery, they fired countless rounds at the scantily-clad girl, every single one exploding against a force field that seemed to surround her.
The AST wizards zeroed in on the resulting smoke cloud, energy blades in hand, and there was the clanging of blades once more, before one of the soldiers was sent flying out of the cloud.
Wait a minute.Shidou narrowed his eyes.Is that… Origami? She's in the AST?
Origami quickly righted herself and made a beeline for the girl, locking blades with her once again before backing off as another volley of missiles targeted her.
Shockwave after shockwave rocked the area, and Shidou felt each one in his bones, his brain seeming to rattle with every explosion. And, as the battle slowly drifted away, his mind grew hazy, until he finally lost consciousness.
…
…
…
"At last… at long last, we meet again… It's been so long…"
In the depths of his mind, a voice called out to Shidou.
"I promise I'll never make a mistake again… I’ll never hurt you again… I’ll never make you angry again… So please, just wait for me… just a little longer…"
Even through his addled mind, something about those words didn't sit right with him.
"Don't… say things like that… like you're begging your ex to take you back…"
At his voice, the voice hesitated, regarding him for a long moment.
"Soon… everything will be as it was…"
As the voice uttered words that seemed more for itself than Shidou, his consciousness seemed to rise up out of the morass it had been mired in.
When he came to, it was to a blinding light burning his retinas.
"Wuah!"
Shidou flailed about uselessly for a moment before realizing he was in an infirmary.
"Ah, you're finally awake…"
He turned to find a woman in her late twenties, in her hand the penlight he had awoken to.
"W-Who are you?"
The woman introduced herself as Reine Murasame, the analysis officer here, "here" being the sickbay of the Fraxinus, a term unfamiliar to Shidou. Perhaps they were spacequake first responders, since it seemed they'd recovered him in the aftermath of the spacequake? When he'd frantically explained that he'd been out looking for his sister, Reine had taken moment a moment to absorb this before simply saying "Follow me", and leaving the sickbay. With no other option, Shidou followed after her.
As he followed her, he got a good look at this Reine character.
She had shoulder-length hair done up in a loose ponytail and wore a well-fitted, military style suit. Peeking out of the breast pocket of her uniform was a small, ratty teddy bear covered in old stitching.
None of this gave Shidou an indication of what kind of people he'd been found by, and his surroundings were no better.
He'd noticed it before in the infirmary, but the walls, floor, and ceiling were all a sleek, gunmetal gray. Nearly every door they passed had palm readers and retinal scanners.
Just where the hell am I?
Was this standard operating procedure in the event of a spacequake? But then why had he never heard of this "Fraxinus"? Had he been abducted by some shady organization? If the punchline here was that terrorists really had stormed the Danny's, Shidou didn't know what he'd do.
At least then, Kotori might be safe…
It was while Shidou worried about such things that Reine stopped at the end of a long hallway. Before them was a mechanical door that she opened after letting it scan her eyes.
The door slid open to reveal what could only be described as the bridge of a ship, complete with crew working away at terminals. Shidou followed Reine as she walked in, the door quickly sliding shut behind him.
"I've brought him with me."
In response, a tall man with blonde hair and European features stepped down from the captain's area, regarding the two with a smile.
"Thank you for taking care of him." To Shidou, he said, "Hello there. My name is Kyouhei Kannazuki. I'm the vice-commander around here. Pleased to meet you."
Shidou nodded a bit belatedly.
"…Nice to meet you too, sir."
The professional air of these people calmed Shidou's nerves somewhat.
Whoever these people are, at least they aren't some ragtag band of terrorists.
The vice-commander turned his head to the captain's seat above.
"Commander, Analysis Officer Murasame has returned."
At the groan of a chair, Shidou turned to greet the head of this place. What he saw there sent his jaw to the floor.
There, in the captain's seat, was his little sister, dressed in business clothes and wearing a sh*t-eating grin as she laid eyes on Shidou's dumbstruck face.
"Welcome aboard, big bro." Kotori crossed her legs imperiously. "To my command center, the Fraxinus."
"Penetration angle, set! ANS, set!"
At the sound of the hangar's intercom, AST wizards deftly glided to their docking stations after their sortie with Princess. Among them was Origami Tobiichi.
She set her equipment down and with a mental command, deactivated her Combat Realizer unit.
Immediately, the weight of her own body, weighed down by her gear, nearly brought her to her knees.
"Whoa, careful there." She fell into the waiting arms of an older woman. "Disconnecting's always pretty rough the first few times."
This was her commanding officer — Ryouko Kusakabe. As Origami rested against her bosom, she turned the day's battle over in her head.
After drawing Princess out into the open air and away from city infrastructure, she and her squad had battled for nearly twenty minutes before driving the spirit off.
This was how the AST combated the spirits, exhausting their energy reserves and then killing them if possible. However, more often than not, the spirit simply became “lost” — that is to say, they left this dimension entirely, returning to wherever they spawned from until they appeared once again to wreak havoc.
How frustrating.
Feeling the strength return to her body, Origami stepped out from Ryouko's embrace, who gave her a quick once over before handing her something.
“Here’s your military-issued sugar rations.”
In Origami's hands was a chocolate bar. On it was a logo of a silly mascot character for the AST - the Anti-Spirit Taskforce.
Tearing open the wrapping, she bit into the bar, the sweet taste of chocolate filling her mouth as it replenished her body's energy.
The Combat Realizer, or CR unit for short, was another miracle of modern science, indispensable in the fight against the spirits. By creating a territory of modified space around the user, one could achieve physics-defying feats — on par with anything that might be depicted in shounen manga or superhero comics.
The only problem was that it burned copious amounts of glucose as fuel. Nowadays, the technology was efficient enough to prevent the worst outcomes, but for a rookie like Origami, the crash after utilizing one was pretty rough.
"You really did good out there, Tobiichi." Ryouko laid a hand on her shoulder. "Especially after Tomohara and Kaguya withdrew and left you alone with that thing."
Origami furrowed her brow.
"They didn't withdraw."
"I know, I know. It's just got to be like that for the report. Gotta make it look like we're getting stuff done, else the brass'll start bellyaching about wasteful spending this and slashing the budget that."
Origami only listened half-heartedly as she put the last of her equipment away. Office politics didn't interest her.
Tilting her head, Ryouko watch her for a bit before speaking.
"Hey, listen. You really did do well out there for your first time, Tobiichi. It's just… you were way too reck—"
"That bitch! THAT BITCH!"
Whatever she was about to say was cut off by an angry roar.
A stretcher carried a platoon member to the infirmary. Her leg was badly mangled, to the point that it was hardly recognizable as such.
"I'll kill her! I'll f*cking kill her!"
Origami frowned at the pointless noise. With the state-of-the-art medical realizers the military had access to, a day in the infirmary was all it'd take to get her leg back to normal.
Ryouko seemed to have the same thoughts.
"So dramatic," she muttered before turning her gaze on her subordinate. "Whatever you hear around here, I want to make one thing very clear. Killing a spirit is pretty much out of the question. Those things are monsters. Like living natural disasters. All we can do is reduce the destruction."
To these sober words, Origami gave no outward reaction. But in her heart of hearts, she swore to herself.
No matter how disillusioned the veterans might have become, she would never forget the AST's primary objective—
The total eradication of all spirits.
15,000 meters above, Shidou Itsuka stared dumbly at his little sister. Said little sister just smirked back at him as she puffed her chest out in pride.
"This is that extracurricular that was always keeping me busy. Pretty neat, huh?"
A moment passed before Shidou simultaneously snapped to and away from his senses.
"Y-Youuuu!"
Stomping up the steps to Kotori, he jammed a finger into her forehead.
"What the hell were you thinking?! Staying outside during a spacequake! You could have died!"
He drilled his finger into her skull until the girl slapped his hand away, nursing her forehead as she glared back at her brother.
"I should be tellingyouthat! What the hell were you thinking, anyway? Running out into the streets like that?"
Shidou sputtered at the audacity.
"W-Wha-I was looking for you!" He whipped out his terminal, which still displayed Kotori's location. "You said you'd be at Danny's no matter what."
Kotori studied the screen with a weary expression, before her eyes briefly widened in recognition.
"Of all the rotten luck…"
"What?"
"Technically, we are at the diner's location. Though, we're about fifteen thousand meters above it." Kotori signaled Reine. "Disable the filter."
Shidou quirked an eyebrow. "Filter? What do you—MEAN?!"
The floor below him suddenly vanished to reveal nothing but air beneath his feet. Clouds drifted lazily below and even further below them was the entirety of the Tenguu metropolitan area.
Kotori grinned at his stupefied reaction.
"You're onboard the airship Fraxinus, commanded by yours truly."
The filter on the floor was re-enabled, and Shidou just stared. Between everything that had happened today, something about that had shaken him.
"I feel like my brain's about to melt…"
Kotori let out a huff of amusem*nt, swiveling in her chair to face the bridge's main monitor.
"You're not some ancient lithium battery, so keep it together. This is just the tip of the iceberg."
Video footage of wizards from the AST, already busily working on the damage caused by the latest spacequake, appeared on the monitor. As it played, Kotori casually held out a hand, prompting her vice-commander to promptly remove a pack from his breast pocket, from which he pulled a single lollipop, neatly unwrapping and presenting the candy to Kotori like a high-end cigar.
Taking it without even looking his way, the girl crossed her legs in a leisurely fashion.
"I'm sure I don't have to ask, but you know who these guys are."
Shidou nodded, thankful for something he was familiar with.
"Yeah, they're from the Anti-Spirit Taskforce. They're first responders to spacequakes and other disasters."
"And do you know why they're called the Anti-SpiritTaskforce?"
"Well, to be honest, I always thought it was some awful Engrish about preventing people from dying and becoming spirits."
Kotori laughed.
"Ah, you say some funny things, sometimes. But no, they're called that because their primary directive is taking care of spirits."
Shidou narrowed his eyes.
"The way you said that, it doesn't sound like they're rolling out the welcome mat."
"Correct."
Kotori snapped her fingers, and footage of the girl Shidou had seen played, showing her battling AST wizards.
"What you ran into today is one of those spirits. They're the cause of the spacequakes, and—"
"Wait, seriously?" Shidou cut in. "If that's true, then why does nobody know about this? I can't be the only person who's gone out during a spacequake."
"Think about it, Shidou. All spirits wear skimpy outfits like that. And they all look like girls. How many idiot guys with more balls than brains do you think would try to bone them?"
That felt like it didn't really answer his question. Nevertheless, Shidou decided not to bring it up for now.
"Hmm… then is that why the AST is, like, ninety percent women?"
"Partially." Kotori answered evasively. "The governments put a lot of effort into eradicating the spirits. They are the cause of the spacequakes, after all, though they don't do it on purpose."
"So they're just attacking these 'spirits' even though they aren't trying to hurt anyone? Is nobody talking to them? That girl seemed willing to."
Kotori grinned at his words, completely missing the skepticism in them.
"Andthat'swhere you come in."
Shidou quirked a brow.
"Wait, I come into this at all?"
"Well, that's the plan." Kotori smirked. "There is a way to seal a spirit's powers and stop them from causing spacequakes. It's pretty simple, really. Just seduce them and f*ck them."
…
Silence reigned on the Fraxinus as Shidou processed his sister's words. When he finally spoke, it was with an utterly unamused tone.
"Come again?"
"Did I stutter? Make them fall for you, get them all weak in the knees, and then f*ck their brains out."
At these frankly unbelievable words, Shidou palmed his face.
Everything his sister had said up till now was suspicious, and until now he had only been humoring her to see how far she'd go, but this was just too much.
"Alright, am I being punked? Is this some new show and I'm, like, the first sucker?"
Between things like Realizers and artificial intelligence, technology had certainly taken a quantum leap in recent decades. Shidou could easily see that tech being put to some stupid reality programming like this. Would explain a lot of otherwise unexplainable things about this day.
But instead of confirming his suspicions, Kotori answered seriously.
"Not at all. I meant exactly what I said."
Not willing to give up the act, huh?
Well, his little sister was earnest, if nothing else. She wouldn’t give in that easily.
Shidou turned his attention to the vice-commander, who had stood at attention this whole time by Kotori's side.
"Alright, alright, I’ve been got. So can you people please stop messing with me and just give me a straight answer."
"I assure you, Mr. Itsuka, we are very serious." The older man answered with a straight face. "The Fraxinus' sole mission is to save the spirits."
Shidou was a little taken by the solemn conviction in his voice. Neither his voice or face gave away even a hint of deceit.
Becoming desperate, Shidou whipped around to Reine, who was sitting at one of the terminals in the main area. She must have anticipated this reaction, because she spoke before he could say anything.
"What Kotori said is true. We are here to help you in any way we can."
At a loss, Shidou scanned the bridge, but nothing he saw betrayed their words.
There were no banners falling from the ceiling with "You got pranked!" printed on them, no cameramen popping out of the woodwork to record his reaction. Just an unfathomable reality staring back at him.
"…I can't tell if you people are being serious." He turned to his sister. "Are you really asking me to have sex with random women?"
"He finally gets it!" Kotori clapped her hands. "Honestly, what's so difficult to understand, anyway? Aren't kids these days all about their open relationships or whatever?"
It was true, polyamory was more accepted than ever in this day and age, owing to several major social movements in the preceding decades, which some sociologists had taken to calling the Second Sexual Revolution.That said, there was nothing unusual about someone preferring more traditional monogamous relationships, though that preference had been labeled old-fashioned by some.
Shidou considered this, as well as everything he'd seen and heard today, before finally answering.
"I still don't totally believe what you've told me, but either way the answer is no."
Kotori narrowed her eyes.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Did I stutter?"
Shidou threw his sister's words right back at her, turning his back on her after he did so.
"Call me old-fashioned, but I'm just a one woman kind of guy."
At his steadfast rejection, Kotori co*cked her chin.
"Hoh? That your final answer? Because if that's the case, I'm sure everyone at school would love to hear about your little romance novel addiction."
Shidou froze.
"…What are you talking about?"
"Need a reminder?" Kotori tapped her chin in mock thought. "If I recall, you're currently on the seventh volume ofAll You Need is Love, which is the twelfth romance novel you've read this year."
Shidou gasped like he'd just been sucker punched. He reeled on Kotori.
"Who told you that?!"
Kotori cracked a sh*t-eating grin as her brother lost his composure.
"Where's all that bluster from just a few moments ago?" She snapped her fingers. "Just so you know, that's not the only dirt we have on you."
On the main monitor, multiple videos began playing at once, showcasing various private moments from Shidou's life.
There was a view of him stealthily buying a romance novel at the self-checkout, smuggled between several more innocent reads. Another depicted him carefully writing his own, now scrapped, romance novel at his desk, one ear perked for the slightest sound of approaching footsteps. Even the time he and his pillow had acted out a pretty steam-filled scene from a novel had been caught in crisp, high-definition 4K.
They had it all. Everything. And, if Kotori was to be believed, they were ready to air his dirty laundry out to the entire school.
H-How! How did they find out? How did they even get these videos!?
All these years, he'd put so much meticulous effort into hiding it, his most embarrassing, intimate secret. And it had all been for nothing.
Deciding that he had been appropriately demoralized, Kotori cut the feed and addressed her brother.
"So, what do you say, Shidou? Still want to refuse?"
"A-Are you strong-arming me?"
"Duh, what does it look like I'm doing?
While Shidou still reeled from this bombshell, Kotori drew herself up, crossed her arms in a grand gesture, and spoke in a booming voice.
"Shidou Itsuka, the duty your country, nay the world, asks of you is a simple one! Pickup spirits! Will you accept this call of duty!"
In response to this grandiloquent speech, Shidou composed himself, took a deep breath, and spoke two words.
“I refuse.”
Now Kotori was the one reeling.
“What? You can’t just… refuse!”
"Yeah, I can, Kotori." Shidou stared her down. "I'm just not the kind of guy who can have sex without an emotional connection. Without any romance."
Dealing with the fallout of having his secret exposed wouldn't be nice, but Shidou was firm on this. People like Tonomachi might have been okay with that sort of thing, and Shidou didn't begrudge them that one bit, but it wasn't what he was looking for, and that was something he would not budge on.
It seemed Kotori was just as adamant about her position. The girl drew herself up, sucking on her lollipop as she glared at her older brother like he was some particularly vexing puzzle.
The bridge grew deadly quiet as the two stared each other down, neither willing to back down.
"Sorry to intrude, but perhaps I can offer a different perspective?"
Kotori's eyes shot open at the sudden introduction of a new voice.
"M-Mr. Woodman!"
Both the Itsuka siblings whipped around, towards the main monitor of the bridge. There, they saw the face of a middle-aged man, a neat beard lining his chin and his blonde hair done up in a short ponytail.
Forcing her lollipop into a pocket, Kotori immediately stood at attention, her earlier bravado completely gone.
"Mr. Woodman, Sir! I did not realize you would be calling today, Sir!"
The older man chuckled warmly at Kotori’s stiff greeting.
“At ease, Commander Itsuka. I just heard some very interesting talk about love and romance is all. I trust your day is going well?”
Kotori shrugged with a wry smile, only letting her shoulders relax slightly.
“It’s going well enough, Mr. Woodman.”
As they spoke casually, Shidou’s head whipped from Woodman to his sister. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
In this day and age, the name Woodman could only be referring totheElliot Woodman, founder and proprietor of Asgard Electronics, a major seller of AI tech and — along with DEM Industries — the only supplier of Realizer tech in the entire world.
Is this for real?
Maybe it was a deep-fake? No, AI was good, but it wasn’t this good, right? Or a look-alike? But this man was the spitting image of the business mogul.
In a day full of surprises, this was just too much.
Just what the hell had his little sister gotten herself into?
"Um… e-excuse me." Shidou shakily cut into the conversation. "Are you… are you really Woodman?"
“Ah, yes, where are my manners.” The older man cleared his throat. “I am indeed Elliot Baldwin Woodman, founder of Asgard Electronics. I am also the founder of Ratatoskr, an organization devoted to the protection of spirits.”
“So everything my sister said… it’s all true?”
“That is correct. We have a large body of research suggesting that sexual intercourse with a spirit will seal their powers, preventing them from creating further spacequakes."
That settled it.
This was real.
Shidou wanted to believe it wasn't, but everything he'd seen and heard today, from his encounter with that half-naked girl, to the lengths his sister had gone to, and now this pointed to one, single conclusion.
It just had to be real. It would have been stranger if it wasn't.
"That said,” Woodman continued, “it is not enough to simply have sex with them. These spirits have been hurt deeply by man for quite some time. They're understandably wary of us. So, in order to make love to them, you must make them comfortable. Make them open their hearts and fall in love. Only then will their powers truly be sealed."
Sitting back in his seat, Woodman smiled warmly.
"Well, when I put it like that, it all sounds rather romantic, doesn't it?"
Taking in all of Woodman's explanation, Shidou closed his eyes in thought.
He remembered what Kotori and the others had told him about saving spirits. He remembered his conversation with Tonomachi about needing to start somewhere. He remembered how he had turned down Origami without even giving her a chance.
And he remembered the way his heart had pounded in his chest when he'd met that girl and glimpsed those lonesome eyes of hers.
Remembering all this, Shidou took a deep breath and let out a long sigh, his body deflating like a balloon.
When he was finished, he returned his gaze to the main monitor.
"Fine. Fine. I'll accept this 'call of duty' or whatever you're calling it."
Woodman perked up at this.
"Is that so? Well, then—"
"But. I honestly don't know what you people expect from me. It's not like I'm some master pickup artist. I can't just woo women like a harem protagonist."
"Well, I suppose that's true enough…" Woodman turned his sights on Kotori. "That would be where Commander Itsuka comes in."
She nodded. "I will make him useful, sir."
"I'm sure you will." Woodman smiled. "Now, if you don't mind, I have other matters to attend to."
"Of course, sir. Have a good day, sir."
"I'll try. And you should try to have a good day yourself, Commander. All work and no play makes Jack a rather dull boy."
Kotori simply nodded with the same serious air she'd had the entire time, apparently not taking Woodman's words to heart at all.
To Shidou, he said, "And of course a good day to you too, Mr. Shidou Itsuka. You have my sincerest gratitude for taking up this momentous task."
And with that, the screen went black.
Shidou was still trying to process everything that had just happened. Amidst the now quiet air of the bridge, something said earlier caught his attention.
"…Kotori. What do you mean 'make me useful'?"
She was talking about training him, right? Training for the task of seducing and having sex with women? It sounded like the plot of some C-tier p*rno.
Kotori, who had yet to completely relax after Woodman's visit, answered honestly.
“It is true that you’re the prototypical average frustrated chump…” Casually insulting him like this, Kotori cupped her chin in thought. “…That’s right! We need to put you through a hundred sets to get rid of that approach anxiety!”
Shidou frowned in confusion.
“A hundred sets? Approach anxiety?”
“You heard me!” Kotori jabbed a finger at him. “I want you to approach one hundred women before the end of this week!”
At the sight of Kotori’s fierce command, Shidou couldn’t help but hang his head.
Just what the hell have I gotten myself into?
