Shidou Itsuka was a creature of habit, the kind of dependable person who would go to school after it'd been demolished the day before out of sheer muscle memory, and then after making such a charming mistake, would then decide to go to the shopping center, in a commendable effort to make sure the outing wasn't for nothing.
Reflecting on such things as she camped out in the shadows of the shopping district, Origami silently waited for the boy who she was now dating.
The plan was simple. Once she sighted Shidou, she would coincidentally bump into him, making up some story about how she had also decided to go shopping and...
Origami's train of thought ground to a halt as she noticed something odd amidst the throng of shoppers.
Near the end of the street, standing in front of a popular bakery, was a girl with long hair as dark as the night sky.
"Prin... cess?"
The word came out of her mouth breathlessly.
It was impossible. If there was a spirit, the spacequake alarm would have gone off.
Origami whipped out her terminal. There were no new messages.
Is it a coincidence?
That girl clearly wasn't wearing Princess' naked dress, nor did she have the monstrous blade that spirit always wielded in battle.
But... something about that face was familiar. Too familiar.
Opening her terminal once more, Origami dialed a confidential number.
"This is Officer Origami Tobiichi. A-6031. Requesting surveillance unit immediately."
If this was a spirit, the best thing to do was prepare for when it became hysterical.
After the confirmation on the other end, she continued her silent observation of the potential spirit. Though, if her suspicions were correct, just what was a spirit doing outside a bakery anyway?
Inside said bakery was one Shidou Itsuka, buying a snack for his date. Kotori would probably refer to this as "raising her buying temperature" but she wasn't here right now, something Shidou thanked his lucky stars for.
As soon as he brought the bread to Tohka, she immediately began sniffing it like a dog.
"Aaah~ What is this? It smells amazing..."
"It's kinako bread," Shidou said as he took a seat on the bench beside Tohka.
It took him a minute to realize that the girl was just smelling the bread, at which point he had to show her how to eat. Her eyes bugged out of their sockets at her first bite of food.
"Mmm! Hi'ou, is dis a date!"
"I just told you it's bread... And don't speak with your mouth full."
Tohka scarfed down the bread in far too few bites and then began licking each of her fingers.
"Hey, hey." Shidou grabbed her wrist. "Don't do that outside. It's unsanitary."
Barely listening to his admonishments, Tohka looked at the wrapping paper the bread had come in.
"Do I eat this too?"
"Uh, no. You throw it away in there."
He pointed at a nearby trash bin, where a young boy was throwing his own trash away.
"Mom! Mom! I threw it away all by myself!"
The boy's mother crouched down, lovingly patting her son's head.
"My, my, aren't you a good boy!"
Upon witnessing this scene, Tohka ran over to the trash bin, forced her trash inside, and then zoomed back to Shidou, holding her head out expectantly.
Looking at the earnest girl in front of him, Shidou could only smile wryly as he caressed her head.
After that, the two — or rather Tohka — continued sampling all the food they came across. The cost racked up quickly, but all expenses incurred while seducing a spirit came out of Ratatoskr's coffers so Shidou paid it no mind.
Currently, they were sitting inside a glitzy maid café. By now, Shidou had gotten a little peckish himself and he figured somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of the streets would be a nice change of pace.
"This place is incredible. Is this a date?"
"Tohka, we're inside now. You can't be so loud."
"Oh." She leaned across the table and whispered, "Is this a date, Shidou?"
"No, it's a café." He handed her a menu. "You ask for items on here and they bring them for you to eat."
Tohka's eyes sparkled in delight as she scanned through the menu.
"Amazing! All this delicious looking food..."
While she was gushing over the food selection, the voice of a waitress came from behind.
"Alrighty, have you two decided on your order?"
"Ah, yeah." Shidou turned in his seat. "We'll have the—Kotori?!"
Standing primly in front of him, wearing the restaurant's maid uniform, was none other than his little sister.
"Hey, I thought you said we can't be loud in here." Tohka eyed him over the menu.
"Ah, sorry..." To his sister, he whisper-yelled, "Kotori, what are you doing in here!?"
"What does it look like? I'm taking your order." She smiled slyly as she spread a leg provocatively. "You just said you wanted to eat me, right?"
"No, please, not right now..."
At Shidou's exhausted plea, Kotori snorted in amusement before leaning forward and whispering in his ear.
"Calm down. I'm here with the crew. Take this so we can talk."
She discreetly passed an earpiece behind Shidou's menu, then addressed Tohka.
"If you can't decide, may I suggest our breathless course?"
Tohka perked up.
"Breathless?"
"Uh, sure. Let's go with that."
Shidou didn't know what he was expecting, but a full-course meal, complete with a juicy, well-done steak, a three-layer cake, a baked rotisserie chicken, a mountain of spaghetti, and about half a dozen other meals was not it.
"How the hell are we supposed to eat all this?"
But just as he said this—
"This is amazing, Shidou! Everything's more delicious than the last!"
Tohka was busily devouring the feast laid out before her and it quickly became apparent that he had nothing to worry about.
While his date was too preoccupied to notice, Shidou turned to his sister, who was sporting a surprisingly professional simper.
"What are you trying to pull here, Kotori?"
"'Thank you' works, too. We're just pulling out all the stops to help you score." Here, she put her game face on. "The hard part is yet to come, Shidou. As soon as you two leave, head south of the station."
"South? Why's that?"
In answer, Kotori just laid a hand on Shidou's shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. Just listen to me."
So saying, she made her leave, but not before delivering a parting line.
"Now then, let our conquest begin."
Despite himself, Shidou cringed.
"That still sounds awful..."
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"So, Kotori, what amazing plan did you have in store for us?"
After Tohka somehow scarfed down the whole full-course spread, she and Shidou were currently headed south as instructed.
"Due to the suddenness of the spirit's arrival, we were taken somewhat by surprise. As a result, from here on out, we'll be commencing Operation Tengu's Holiday."
"I have no idea what that means."
"You'll see the first phase of it soon enough."
Sure enough, just as it seemed Kotori had sent him off on a wild goose chase, they ran into Tonomachi, who was in the middle of getting rejected by a new girl, wearing a happi coat and looking suspiciously like one "Deep Love" Minowa. From the tickets she handed him, it seemed she was playing the role of an advertiser for some business or another.
Taking his leave, Tonomachi quickly noticed Shidou and called out to him before making his way over.
Tohka, who had immediately leapt behind Shidou for cover, placed her hand on his shoulder like a gun rest.
"Someone's approaching us Shidou. Are they a threat?"
"No, Tohka. This is a friend. Please don't hurt them."
Tohka relented but stayed behind Shidou as said friend came up to them.
"Hey, Tonomachi. How's the dating going?"
"Haha, you saw that, huh?" Tonomachi laughed it off. "But enough about me. I heard you were trying to pick up chicks but I had no idea you had such game! She's a real hotty!"
"Haughty! Are you insulting me!?"
"And she's funny!"
Laughing, Tonomachi placed the tickets he'd just received in Shidou's hand.
"Take these. You look like you'll need them more than I do. If you know what I mean. *Wink*"
Shidou groaned as he failed to suppress the smirk on his face.
"You're not supposed to say it when you wink..."
Grinning back, Tonomachi took his leave with a hand held high.
"Good luck. And remember, love does not bloom in an empty garden."
Left with this annoyingly cool line, Shidou just looked at the tickets in his hands. Tohka leaned her body against him to get a better look.
"Shidou, what are these flat things for?"
In his hands were a pair of coupons for one "Dream Park", a name which immediately filled Shidou with apprehension. A feeling that proved justified when they arrived at the steps of a popular castle-themed love hotel.
The hell guys! It's, like, two in the afternoon! Allow some time for romance!
"Shidou! Is this there the elusive date lies!"
Of course, Tohka was just as curious about this as she was everything else.
"...Let's just say this is a place for ending dates, okay?"
"Ending dates? What's that supposed to mean?"
Somehow, he managed to convince Tohka to leave and while they were crossing the bridge to do so, she sighted something in the river below. Running up to the railing, she marveled at a school of carp traveling beneath the clear water.
"Ooh! What are those? They look tasty! Can we eat them?"
"Well, I mean, if you cook them, sure."
Shidou came up beside Tohka, resting on the railing and watching the fish with her until she excitedly pointed out a pair of stationary fish.
"Shidou! Look at those two!"
The fish in question were wriggling vigorously beside each other. Shidou stared, baffled by the display, until the meaning of the scene became clear as a thick cloud of eggs and sperm burst from the bellies of the fish. Now relieved of their carnal instincts, the fish promptly went their separate ways.
Tohka's eyes lit up at the spectacle. Her curiosity really knew no bounds.
"Ahh! They released an underwater smokescreen!"
And so did her capacity to misinterpret the simplest of things.
"That's called mating." Shidou explained, more for his own sake than anything else. "It's how living things create new life."
It was a needlessly poetic way of phrasing it, but Shidou didn't feel like getting into the nitty-gritty of sexual reproduction at the moment.
"New life? You can make new life! That sounds incredible, Shidou!"
"I guess it is. Anyway, come on, Tohka. We need to keep going."
Shidou didn't have a destination in mind.
He'd been trying not to think about it, but between the love hotel and now this, he was forced to confront the fact that Kotori and the others seriously expected him to have sex with this girl.
Shidou understood the necessity of doing it as soon as possible. There was no telling when Tohka might become lost again and cause another spacequake. But the end goal was more than just sex — he never would have agreed to this otherwise.
So the million-yen question was: did he have any feelings for this girl?
She was beautiful, gorgeous really, and had a curious and genuine personality. Honestly, he was something of a fan of that archetype in romance novels, even if it was a little hard to keep up with the real deal.
However, could he really call that love? The two hadn't even known each other a full day. Shidou hardly counted the life or death negotiations they'd had prior to this as getting to know each other. As it was—
"Shidou... are you not having fun?"
Jolted out of his reverie, Shidou blinked to find Tohka standing in front of him, her face heavy with concern.
"Huh, what?"
"It's just, this has been such a great day for me. But I just realized that maybe I'm the only one having fun." She glanced at him with anxious eyes. "Are you mad at me?"
"Tohka... Of course I'm not mad at you. I was just... distracted is all."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Really, really?"
This girl really was adorable. Shidou couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Yes, really, really."
In response to his words, Tohka let out a smile of her own and took his hands.
"I'm happy to hear that." She turned to continue walking before realizing something. "Oh, where were we headed, Shidou?"
Where were they headed, indeed? He thought about it for a bit, before a certain place came to mind.
Yeah, I think that'll work.
His mind made up, Shidou took off with Tohka in tow.
"Follow me. I wanna show you something."
He had a destination in mind now.
15,000 meters above, Kotori let out a groan as all the crew's efforts were laid to waste.
"Seriously! He gets all the way to the finish line and then he pulls out at the last second. Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. He's a by-the-books type if ever there was one."
With a put upon sigh, she held out a hand and received a lollipop from Kannazuki.
Seated in the deck below, Reine sent her analysis readings to the main monitor.
"It was probably for the best. The values from today are much more stable than before, but her comfort levels are still below the minimum threshold for sealing."
"True enough. Even if they didn't go all the way though, we could have at least gotten to first base."
"What will we do next?"
"Hmm..." Kotori sucked on her lollipop in thought. "He seems to have a little plan of his own now. Let's see how that works out for him."
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"What is this place?! Is this the super secret base of the Mecha-Mecha Squad!"
Tohka shouted in excitement at the arched marquee above them. Shidou, used to her antics by now, walked inside at a sedate pace.
"It's called an arcade. And no, it has nothing to do with the AST. It's a place where you can play games and win prizes."
Tohka bounced around the place before zeroing in on a particular machine.
"Oh, I want this one!"
Shidou looked over to see her standing before a crane game filled with plushies of kinako bread, of all things.
They really were just getting lazy now, weren't they?
After explaining the basics of things and slipping a few coins in the machine, Shidou let Tohka have a crack at it. Unsurprisingly, she failed as the claw arm listlessly grabbed at a plushie before immediately dropping it.
Pressing her face flat against the thin bit of glass separating her from her prize, Tohka hyperventilated in frustration.
"Hmm! Why won't you pick it up, you pathetic claw! Shidou, say something to it too!"
"I told you, these are pretty difficult. You've gotta have the right technique."
"Then, what do you suggest?"
Truth be told, the plushie was big and bulky enough that they probably wouldn't be able to get it without spending all day here. It'd be easier to go for something with lighter prizes.
Sighting a crane game full of smaller cat plushies, Shidou found his target.
"This one should be easy."
Tohka barely spared it a glance before turning her nose up at it.
"That's not the one I want. I want this one."
It seemed she'd made up her mind.
"Uh, okay. Maybe there's another machine with the same plushies..."
Lucky for them, there actually was another crane game with kinako plushies. Shidou was about to suggest it when he saw something that made him regret everything.
"Dimension Breaker" Nakatsugawa, hanging upside-down from the ceiling of the claw machine in a skintight bodysuit and enthusiastically miming clawing motions.
"Hahaha! I can get you any prize you want! Come on, pick one! Pick one!"
Why must they torment me like this?
Turning away from this haunting sight like he hadn't seen anything at all, Shidou returned to Tohka who had stayed behind to guard her quarry.
"On second thought, let's just stay with this one."
He studied the arrangement of the plushies for some time before picking out a prime target.
"Alright, Tohka, let's try this. I'll take this button here, and when I tell you, let go of that button."
Tohka listened intently to his words, assuming her position and pressing her body against his in the process.
He'd noticed it several times throughout the day, but this girl really had no qualms with physical contact, did she?
Well, if she wasn't gonna make a big deal out of it, Shidou figured he shouldn't as well.
From the corner of the machine, the crane lurched to life as Shidou began to move it.
Beside him, Tohka was chomping at the bit and fidgeting as she waited, and Shidou preemptively cautioned her.
"Not yet... not yet..."
For this to work, he needed to line things up perfectly, so that the claw would have the best grip when Tohka released it.
He directed the claw with tense, meticulous motions and, by the time he'd finally positioned it over the plushie, he realized that he was getting surprisingly into this himself.
"Do it now, Tohka!"
Tohka released the button with all the seriousness of a military commander issuing the order to launch nuclear missiles.
As if to mock her intensity, the crane dropped lazily like it always did but, thanks to Shidou's efforts, it got an unusually good grip on the plushie.
At the sight of this, Tohka's eyes lit up.
"Hold it. It's not over until it's out of the machine."
Tohka's face slipped into serious mode once more as they watched the crane slowly lurch towards the drop-off box. Finally, the claw hand released and the plushie fell, as if in slow motion.
Straight onto the lip of the glass box.
With a huff, Shidou stood up straight with his hands on his hips.
"Damn. Sorry about that, Tohka. I told you to let go too late."
Well, if it was this close, they could probably get one of the employees to look the other way and give it to them.
He was walking away to do just this when something stopped him in his tracks.
"Fall!"
Shidou whipped around to find Tohka gripping the machine's controls, tears in her eyes.
"Fall! Why won't you fall? Shidou and I worked so hard on this. Fall, please!"
At some point during all this, she had become deadly serious.
"Hey, T-Tohka..."
Shidou paled as something that he could only describe as gravitational static filled the area.
Is this... a spacequake?
Yes, it felt just like the seconds before he'd been knocked back by one nearly a week ago.
But, just as he was preparing for the worst, the kinako plushie "fell" to the side and into the drop-off box, and the ominous mood that had filled the atmosphere dispersed like so much smoke.
Tohka squealed as she snatched up the plushie, hugging it tightly and burying her face in it.
"Shidou! We did it! We did it!"
"Uh, y-yeah..."
Still feeling a little tense, Shidou answered absentmindedly.
Was this what they were talking about? About how spirits can go hysterical?
Reine had explained this to him before. As long as Tohka's powers were unsealed, she'd be able to create spacequakes even without having to manifest in this world. All it took was a strong enough negative experience.
He'd just never imagined it'd be this easy.
After that, they spent the next hour playing various arcade games and never again did Tohka get as worked up as she did with that crane game. Shidou felt this had less to do with chance and more to do with the Ratatoskr officers he occasionally saw rigging games to their advantage, but for once he welcomed their interference.
Currently, they were sitting at one of the mall's eateries, munching on some fast food as they chatted.
"This world is incredible!" Tohka got out between bites. "Why do those dumb ei-es-tee people always attack me?"
At her casual words, Shidou frowned for a split second.
After what had almost happened at the crane game, he understood a little more where the AST were coming from. Even if Tohka didn't mean it, she was dangerous and the AST had no other means of dealing with her. But Ratatoskr — and his sister — were offering another way, a non-violent way, to resolve this difficult situation, a solution Shidou wanted so desperately to believe in.
But more importantly, he wanted to believe in Tohka. In the girl who just wanted to have fun and be happy.
"...Well, I have to admit, that sword of yours is a little terrifying."
As such, he settled for a noncommittal remark, which Tohka characteristically took seriously.
"You mean Sandalphon?"
"Sandle fawn?" Shidou furrowed his brows at the foreign word.
Tohka chuckled at this and for once corrected him.
"No, it's Sandalphon!"
The absurdity of the situation got a laugh out of Shidou, his eyes scrunching shut in amusement.
When he opened them, he found Tohka gazing at him with fascination. She started a little when she noticed him looking back and when Shidou sent her a little smile, the girl's face flushed red as a tomato before she turned her sights on her drink.
She has no problem with physical contact, but eye contact's too much?
At her silliness, Shidou settled into a soft smile.
This was the kind of lovey-dovey stuff he always loved reading about in books, and to think that it was now happening to him in real life. In that moment, Shidou considered himself a very lucky man.
As the two ate in comfortable silence, a trio of construction workers sat down at a nearby table with their orders.
"Aah, after a long day of work, this place really hits the spot."
"You can say that again. Today was a bitch."
"You almost weren't able to make it today, right?"
"Yeah, didn't you say your kid's school got destroyed by a spacequake the other day?"
"Yep. Luckily, it was after hours so nobody got hurt. But they're gonna be online schooling for the next few weeks while they rebuild."
"Damn, spacequakes suck. Hey, old man, what where things like before the spacequakes? You were around back then, right?"
"What, me? I was just a kid back then. Hardly remember life before them at all."
"Well, guess it has been forty years..."
While Shidou busily munched away at his meal, Tohka — having already devoured hers — eavesdropped on the conversation between the three men. When they eventually moved on to other topics, she hesitated before asking Shidou a question.
"...Shidou, what was the world like? Before the spacequakes?"
Caught off guard, Shidou swallowed before answering.
"Hmm... well, I was born after the spacequakes, so I can't give the most direct answer but, to sum things up, it was very different. The First Great Spacequake killed a lot of people, and fundamentally altered the planet's geography and climate. Ah, well, us humans were already kind of doing that, but this was on a different level. There were a lot of wars and a lot of people died, but nowadays things are pretty peaceful."
Shidou rattled off an answer he was sure would get him scolded by Miss Tamae for being oversimplified, but he didn't have it in him at the moment to hold an impromptu history lecture.
Having listened intently to his explanation, Tohka's face fell.
"If this is what the world is like now, how much more amazing was it before the spacequakes?"
She had a lonely air about her as she spoke, and it only seemed to grow as she continued.
"...Now I understand why the Mecha-Mecha Squad is always after me. Every time I come to this world, I destroy something that's so beautiful."
Tohka gripped tightly at the fabric of her skirt as she stared at her lap.
"Shidou, maybe it really would be better if I weren't here..."
Shidou's chest twisted at those bitter words.
"Tohka..."
Maybe I said too much...
For him, the spacequakes were just a part of life. The stuff about spacequakes and their impact on humanity had always just been social studies, but Tohka was understandably taking it all very seriously.
He took her hand beneath the table.
"Tohka. Tohka, look at me. You're not a monster. You're not trying to hurt anybody. So no matter what happens, I won't leave you. I promise."
"Shidou..." Tohka's eyes glistened. "But how can you promise that? If something happened to you... I don't know what I'd do."
She didn't believe him, and he couldn't blame her. He was just an ordinary human. Tohka was still producing spacequakes; it was a miracle they'd managed to go an entire day like this without anything serious happening.
There was only one way to save Tohka, if he was to believe Kotori and, though he disagreed with her methods, he trusted her not to be wrong about something like this.
Having made up his mind, Shidou stood, gathered up their half-eaten food, and tossed it in a nearby trash bin.
"Shidou?"
Feeling daring, he grabbed Tohka's hand and began walking.
"Wha—! Where are we going, Shidou?"
He turned back with a confident smile on his face.
"To Dream Park. I told you, didn't I? That place is for ending dates."
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"Captain Kusakabe, they're headed indoors."
"Again? The hell, are they learning or something?"
As Captain Kusakabe listened to this intelligence, Origami quietly calibrated her weapons and gear.
The two of them were currently on the rooftop of a building overlooking the Dream Park love hotel, where Princess and Shidou were currently located.
After low-level spatial tremors were detected and localized to the spirit's location, the JGSDF officially gave the go ahead for the AST to engage. Operatives were in the process of evacuating the building as the brass debated on how to handle the situation.
Though Origami understood the need for bureaucracy, times like these always irritated her. But, maybe it was for the best.
There had been an unusual amount of interference today, jamming their communications and stalling their operations. It might have just been a bad day, but something about it seemed oddly timed...
Putting those thoughts aside, she glanced over at the love hotel where Shidou currently was, alone with a spirit.
How had this happened? Was it threatening him to keep his silence?
Origami didn't know. All she did know was that whatever that thing did to her boyfriend, she'd pay it back tenfold.
While such developments carried on outside, Shidou and Tohka entered the room they had booked.
"Wow! This place is huge!"
So saying, Tohka bounced around the room, marveling at the increasingly risqué sights she came across, which ranged from a large, flatscreen television, a box of novelty condoms, and several handcuffs and ball gags.
While she was doing all this, Shidou stayed at the door, pale as a sheet. Despite his earlier bravado on the way over, he was starting to get cold feet.
Ever since the Reiwa Reforms, it wasn't uncommon for someone his age to have some experience with love hotels, but Shidou was not one to frequent such establishments. As it was, this was his first time seeing the inside of one with his own eyes.
No, even before that, he'd never even had sex, and he preferred cleaner, closed-door romances to the steamier varieties. His only detailed experience with the act was through that damn eroge Ratatoskr had him play. With such a sketchy background, could he really do this?
"Shidou." Kotori's voice cut in. "Remember, we're here to make sure this goes smoothly."
"I appreciate it, but please don't give me choices during sex..."
Kotori heaved a sigh.
"Fine. Just... keep the basics in mind."
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Make sure she comes first."
"Got it."
"That means plenty of foreplay."
"I got it."
"And don't be shy about making noise."
"Alright, I got it. Anything else?"
There was a moment where it seemed Kotori might say something more, but she didn't and the earpiece went dead as Tohka turned to face Shidou.
"Shidou, this is amazing! Dates are amazing!"
At this passionate declaration, Shidou began walking towards the plush, four-poster, king-sized bed at the center of the room.
"Yeah. They are, aren't they?"
This was his first date, and the circumstances couldn't be stranger. He wasn't sure whether to thank Kotori and the others for making this possible or not.
As he thought about such things, Tohka joined Shidou at the bed, plopping herself down as she set her plushie beside her.
His heart pounding in his throat, Shidou placed a hesitant arm around Tohka's waist. For a moment, her body stiffened at the unexpected contact, and Shidou nearly yanked his arm back before the girl relaxed and leaned into him.
Nowadays, love hotels installed one-way windows, apparently for those with exhibitionist kinks. The afternoon sunlight was slowly giving way to sunset, bathing the room in a warm glow.
So far, so good...
But how was he supposed to parlay this into sex? His mind ran through the various scenarios he'd encountered in the eroge, but none of them really matched this exact situation.
At his side, Tohka who had been enjoying the quiet atmosphere, turned to face him.
"Shidou, h—"
She stopped when she realized their faces were mere centimeters apart.
However he did it, he needed to start with a kiss. That much was a given.
Gently, Shidou cupped Tohka's chin and brought his lips against hers. They stayed like that for a moment, until Shidou pulled away to regard Tohka's surprised expression.
Dazedly, she brushed a finger along her lips.
"Shidou... what was that?"
"It's called a kiss."
"A kiss..."
He tentatively leaned in for another and Tohka met him halfway.
They made out like that, Shidou introducing his tongue and Tohka beginning to grope his body. Like this, the two gradually escalated the intensity of their passion until they fell over onto the bed.
Even through the blazer, she felt so soft it was incredible. And yet, he could feel dense, sinewy muscle just beneath the surface. It reminded Shidou of something Kotori had told him, about how Tohka had first appeared a little over five years ago.
She's been fighting all this time...
He wanted to help this girl. Save her from the senseless fighting and the loneliness and show her the world in all its beauty.
They continued to make out, Shidou on top, until they pulled apart, just enough that they could feel each other's breath as they gasped for air.
"Hah..." Tohka's face was flush with a very specific kind of heat. "Shidou, my chest... feels fluffy..."
"Mine too, Tohka..."
They laid like that for a long while, Tohka enjoying the intimacy of the moment as Shidou did anything but.
Now's the moment of truth...
His mouth felt dry, which was weird because he'd just had Tohka's tongue inside every nook and cranny of it a moment ago. He wetted his mouth before opening it.
"Hey... Tohka, have you ever heard of sex?"
"Sex? No, I haven't heard it. What is it, Shidou?"
"Ah, well... it's kind of like what those fish from before did."
With an excited gasp, Tohka sat up.
"We're gonna wiggle our butts next to each other and release an underwater smokescreen?!"
Why does she sound so excited?!
"Uh, no... Humans do it a bit differently."
The look of sheer disappointment on Tohka's face almost left Shidou feeling like he'd wronged the girl somehow.
"Hey, come on, don't look so down. Sex is pretty good in its own right."
Tohka nodded at his words with a determined look.
"Mm-hmm. How do we do sex?"
"Have sex," Shidou corrected. "And, uh... first, we take off our clothes."
Again, Tohka nodded and, with only a moment of apparent concentration, her clothes vanished in a flash of light, just as they had when she'd dispelled her naked dress.
At this, Shidou could only smile wryly.
Well, this makes things a little awkward, doesn't it?
Trying to appear unhurried, Shidou removed his clothes by hand while Tohka watched on intently. When he'd imagined this moment, it hadn't really involved an impromptu strip show, much less by himself.
That said, it was kind of hot to have a girl his own age be so obviously interested in his body. On top of the make out session they'd just had, this meant he was sporting quite the erection when he pulled his pants down.
He sat back down on the bed beside Tohka.
"Shidou, what is this... appendage?"
"That's my penis."
Another overly serious nod.
"Shidou's penis..."
This girl's curiosity was boundless. If he humored every one of her questions, they'd be here all day.
Before she could make this more difficult than it already was, Shidou guided Tohka back down onto the bed and stood in front of her.
I can do this...
Puzzled, she looked up at him.
"Shidou, is this sex?"
"Close."
She looked down.
"It involves your penis, right?"
"Yeah... I put it inside you and then thrust my hips until we cum."
When he put it like that, it sounded so pedestrian.
"Cum?"
"Uh, it might be better to just let you experience it for yourself. Can you spread your legs for me?"
Tohka did as he asked, drawing a thin strand between her thighs.
"Like this?"
"A little more."
She spread her legs further, until her knees were at her sides, and Shidou pulled her closer to the edge of the bed so that he could enter her.
This was it. It was now or never.
He was holding his dick in his hand, and in a few moments it'd be inside Tohka. He'd be having sex for the first time in his life.
The thought left him feeling a little dizzy, but he tried to push past that.
This was the only way. The only way to save her, to seal her powers, and stop her from producing spacequakes.
He just needed to do it.
Suddenly, Shidou realized that he was trembling like a newborn fawn. He could feel his heart pounding in his dick and yet it felt numb, nothing like the times when he masturbated. Shidou tried to ignore it, turning his gaze on Tohka's glistening pussy.
I just need to do it... He gulped back the lump in his throat. I just... need to put it inside...
"...Shidou?"
He glanced up to see Tohka looking up at him. There was worry in her eyes.
"Uhh... w-well, this is actually my first time doing this, so I'm actually kind of nervous..."
She took this in and nodded softly, holding his wrist as she responded.
"Hmm... well, it's my first time too, so don't be nervous, okay?"
At Tohka's plain words, Shidou remembered Reine's from yesterday.
Yeah, that's right. Sex is supposed to be an intimate moment where two souls unite for the purpose of giving each other pleasure...
It sounded so obvious when he put it like that, but in his haste, Shidou had forgotten obvious things. He'd even been about to ignore Kotori's unexpectedly helpful advice.
"...Sorry about that. I was getting in my head again." He sat back down, letting some of the tension out of his body. "What do you want to do right now?"
Immediately, Tohka turned her attention to his erection, stroking it curiously.
"Shidou, this... appendage, you called it your penis. What is that?"
"You sure do ask a lot of tough questions..."
It was funny. Normally, getting stroked off by a girl like this should have been arousing, but with the way Tohka was manhandling him, it was a little less than erotic.
She released him and brought her face right up to his crotch, inspecting his penis with an intensity that seemed to far exceed what she was looking at.
This girl is adorable.
Feeling a little playful, Shidou flexed and sent his shaft bouncing up and then down.
"Ah!" Tohka jumped. "It moved!"
"Actually, I made it move." He repeated the motion a few times. "See?"
The girl stared, utterly transfixed, before turning her gaze to her own crotch.
"What's mine called? Is it also a penis?"
"Uh, no. The outside part's called the vulva and the inside's the vagina."
"There's an inside!?"
Tohka put her hands between her legs and pulled her lips apart, straining to get a look at herself.
"I think it's gonna be a little hard to see it from that angle..."
After struggling for a few more seconds, Tohka relented. Now she turned her attention to Shidou's body.
"Do all humans have penises? Are vaginas a spirit thing?"
Was Shidou gonna have to explain to Tohka the finer details regarding sex and gender?
I guess I can't be surprised. She's only ever run into the AST, and they're practically all women.
Shidou sat back on his arms and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
"...Let's just say it's complicated. To overly simplify it, you have people with penises and people with vaginas. The people with penises are usually called boys or men, and the people with vaginas girls or women."
"Oh..." She touched Shidou's chest, comparing the difference between his and her own. "So, do all boys bodies look like this?"
"Uh, more or less. I mean different guys are taller, or have more muscle, or different sized penises. It's pretty diverse."
Tohka drank in Shidou's body, caressing his shoulders and arms.
"Mmm... I've never seen a boy's body before. They're amazing..."
Shidou smirked at that.
"Really? I always thought girls had the amazing bodies." He brushed his fingers across her chest. "I'm a particularly big fan of these. They're called breasts."
"Breasts..."
Tohka gasped at his touch, her face becoming flush once again.
"And these are nipples..."
The two continued on like this, Shidou naming body parts as they explored each other's bodies.
Eventually, he found his fingers deep inside Tohka's pussy, fingering the girl as she stroked him off.
It felt incredible having someone else touch him like this.
Their lips were locked as well, and Shidou pulled away with a wet pop, regarding Tohka with an amorous gaze as he slipped another finger inside.
"How does this feel, Tohka?"
She panted her arousal, her hips squirming beneath his touch and her eyes clouded with lust.
"It feels... haa... I don't know how to describe it, but... ah... I want to feel it more, Shidou..."
Shidou planted kisses on the side of her neck. "It feels good, right?"
"It feels so good..." Tohka moaned. "This is sex?"
"Part of it, yeah..."
"You said... you were going to put your penis... inside me... That's part of sex too, right..."
"Yeah... Do you want to try it?"
"Yes, I want to try it... I want you inside me..." Tohka's hips squirmed lewdly. "Shidou~"
Well, when she begged for it like that, it was hard not to oblige the girl.
Once again guiding her down onto the bed, Shidou knelt in front of her.
Though he'd seen her naked several times before, this was the first time he'd been in any kind of position to study Tohka's sopping pussy.
From her clit, prominent labia hung like curtains around the mouth of her vagina, which pulsed rhythmically with her arousal. The sight of Tohka's throbbing pussy was intoxicating, and Shidou felt his own body throbbing in response.
This time, he did not tremble as he took his cock in hand, instead grinding the tip against Tohka's mound and coating it with her wetness.
She watched on with bated breath, one hand clutching the bedsheets, as Shidou slipped his head inside.
There was some resistance, and Tohka shut her eyes tightly as she braced her body and her thighs trembled.
Seeing this, Shidou immediately stopped moving, afraid that he'd done something wrong and caused the girl discomfort.
"How's this, Tohka? Am I going too fast?"
In response, she wrapped her legs around Shidou's ass and pulled him, burying the entirety of his cock inside her.
They both moaned at the sudden intensity, their bodies squeezed tightly together, so close that their lips brushed against each other as they caught their breath, gazing deeply into each other's eyes all the while.
"Shidou..." Tohka moaned his name. "Sex... feels amazing..."
Shidou, resting on his hands and knees, couldn't even speak, such was the intensity of being inside Tohka.
She was so wet. Unbelievably so. And soft. And hot.
Holy shit, it's like I stuck my dick in an oven!
And she was gripping him. Shidou felt Tohka squeeze him with every shaky breath she took, her tight folds brushing against him in ways that felt magical.
He leaned back so that he was kneeling, drinking in the sight of her body. Her breasts heaving and her lips parted, Tohka looked absolutely stunning. Her eyes were brimming with... expectation? No, it was curiosity he saw there.
This girl... so genuinely curious about everything, even things like this.
It was... surprisingly romantic.
With that thought and an irrepressible moan, Shidou began to move his hips against Tohka's.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Her eyes closed, Origami patiently waited on standby, having assumed the prone position to hide her silhouette, and as she did so, she recalled memories from her past.
She remembered her last day of basic training, when she and the other recruits who had made the cut were shown footage of a spirit with black, uneven twin-tails, cackling madly as it tore through wizards left and right.
The instructor, an older woman with graying hair and a strident voice, slammed a hand down onto the podium she stood behind.
"You see this? This sumofabitch's a spirit and it's the reason something north of eighty percent of you maggots are here. Buckle up, because you're about to be redpilled about the truth the world's been hiding from you."
It was there that Origami had learned that all spirits were like that and that her hatred for them was just. Spirits brought nothing but catastrophe unto the world, killing people by their mere presence. Just like the twin-tailed spirit. Just like Princess. Just like the spirit that had ki—
"Evacuation complete, Captain Kusakabe."
Origami's eyes opened at those words, broadcast through her communications equipment.
Kusakabe, who was crouched in front of the roof's parapet, relayed this fact to the higher ups before listening quietly to their response.
When she brought her hand down from her ear, Origami spoke.
"Permission to proceed?"
Kusakabe shook her head. "Unfortunately, not yet. Seems the brass are still discussing it."
Origami did not visibly react to this information save a sharp, restless exhale.
Now that the evacuation was complete, what more did the higher ups need? Right now, Princess was without its naked dress, the spirits' ultimate defense that so often stymied the AST's efforts. If they didn't attack now, there was no telling when they might have another opportunity like this.
Though she had her back to the girl, Kusakabe could feel her subordinate's impatience, and she spoke to Origami as a cold breeze blew across the rooftop.
"I know you want to go in guns a blazin', and believe you me, I understand, but this time is different. The spacequake alarms haven't gone off, so if the spirit runs wild, a lot of civilians are gonna be in the line of fire."
Origami's brows furrowed at her words, and she admonished herself for her impatience.
Yes, she needed to keep the civilians in mind.
After a moment, Kusakabe began talking once more, her voice a bit more gentle than Origami was used to hearing.
"Also... I know I read you the riot act for engaging Princess yesterday, but I doubt waiting for orders would have done any good in that situation. You did good, saving that kid."
No sooner had she said this than the buzz of her earpiece interrupted her.
"Yes, this is Point Alpha. What did they—huh?" Her eyes widened at something said before narrowing once more. "...Roger that."
Origami perked up at that, and Kusakabe relayed the intelligence.
"Count yourself lucky, Tobiichi. Apparently, we have permission to go ahead. Handed down from one of the big wig's big wigs."
Immediately, Origami stood, her face resolute.
This would have to be a surgical strike. Not only to minimize property damage and civilian casualties, but because they might never get a chance like this again. They needed to take Princess down before it could don its naked dress.
Of course, Captain Kusakabe already knew this. Only one question remained at this point.
"Can you do it?"
In response to her terse question, Origami activated her energy blade, its quiet buzz accompanying her words.
"Of course."
She would never again allow a spirit to harm someone she loved.
In the love hotel, Shidou and Tohka were lost to the world, completely oblivious to unfolding events as the wet sounds of their sex filled the room.
Having watched a porno or two, Shidou was no stranger to sexual gratification, but the reality of it was so much greater than he could have ever imagined.
The hot sensation of having his dick stimulated from all sides was like nothing he'd ever felt before. The wet suction produced by Tohka's pussy was both lubricating and friction inducing, and the sounds they could produce were incredible.
There was also the smell, a thick, intoxicating musk that made Shidou's brain go all fuzzy. That might have been a problem, but his body seemed to act all on its own; every in stroke was an explosion of sensation, which the only way to prolong was by pulling out, eliciting an equally strong reaction until he had to thrust again. He had to hand it to nature — it was a pretty efficient little system.
But what surprised Shidou most was the collaborative aspect of it all. Having another person as into it as he was elevated the experience to an almost religious state.
And Tohka was into it.
She would grunt and moan, grabbing at his body as he rolled his hips against hers, and then when he took a break to rest, buck her hips beneath him in tight, needy little motions that left him gasping even as he caught his breath.
It was during one of these breaks, while locking lips with Tohka in a passionate kiss, that he felt it in the tip of his penis.
"Agh, fffuck..." Shidou began thrusting again. "Tohka, I'm about to cum..."
In response to his renewed motions, Tohka cried out in ecstasy as she arched her back.
"Ooh... agh... I think... I'm about to cum too, Shidou...!"
As he hurtled towards orgasm, a thought passed through his sex-addled mind.
Wasn't she supposed to cum first?
Lost in the throes of passion, he'd almost forgotten that little detail.
Shidou didn't want to find out what would happen if he messed up the order. He tried to slow down his thrusts to last just a little longer but, as his hips refused to listen to him, it became clear he wasn't going to make it.
Shit, I can feel it! I'm gonna cum!
It was right about then that the window exploded, spraying glass and brick everywhere.
Tohka reacted immediately, grabbing Shidou and hurling them off the bed, away from the debris. Which was just as well, because the bed exploded a second later.
"What the hell!?"
Shidou and Tohka scrambled to their feet, coughing as the dust settled around them. When it did, they finally got a good look at the source of the disturbance.
"O-Origami!"
She stood in front of the hole she had just created, her body trembling with a barely restrained hostility, in her hand an energy blade.
Shidou's blood froze at the sight of it.
"...What are you doing with that?"
"Stay away from that, Shidou."
"From that"? Was she referring to Tohka? Before he could respond, the girl in question drew herself up, leveling a glare at Origami that was no less intimidating for her nakedness.
"Again, you would dare interrupt us?"
Unflinchingly, Origami's steely gaze landed on Tohka's crotch, which was yet wet with the traces of their lovemaking.
"What were you doing to Shidou?"
"Wait! Please!" Shidou, one hand over his crotch, tried to quell the escalating situation. "Let's just... Let's just talk this out..."
If they could just get Origami to listen, he was sure they could show her that Tohka wasn't a threat.
"Talk? There is no talking with spirits."
"Origami, you don't have to do this."
It was like she was in a trance. Her eyes never left Tohka, even as she spoke to Shidou.
"Yes I do. That is a spirit. And the AST's purpose is to kill spirits."
And then Origami charged, her blade raised to kill. It seemed to happen in slow motion to Shidou, whose heart leapt out of his throat in a terrified shout.
"TOHKA!"
It seemed cliché even to him, but in that moment Shidou's body moved all on its own. In an attempt to get them both to safety, he shoved Tohka to the side as the blade tore through the air and then his body.
Unlike spirits, the human body lacked the ultimate defense of a naked dress, and Shidou lacked even the man-made protection of a territory. As such, his body stood no chance against the raw power of a military-grade weapon.
He was dead before he'd even hit the floor.
To Tohka, it seemed as if the world and even her own mind had ground to a halt. The sight of Shidou's body, split nearly in half as blood pooled around it, burned itself into her retinas, refusing to disappear.
She couldn't breathe, couldn't move a muscle, couldn't tear her eyes away from that hideous sight.
Beside her, the AST warrior stared too, mouth agape at what she'd just done. She whispered a single word, her voice thick with incredulous pain.
"Sh-Sh-Shidou..."
Tohka couldn't believe her ears.
Why are you sad? You're the one who attacked. You people are always the ones who attack... And now... and now!
With an awful cry, Tohka summoned Sandalphon and her naked dress. Rounding on the white haired girl, she slammed her blade down with everything she had, splitting the building in two.
Shell shocked as she was, the girl deftly ducked out of the swing's path, shooting away and out into the air.
"YOU COWARD! GET-BACK-HERE!"
Tohka exploded outward, closing the distance in an instant and smashing Sandalphon against the AST warrior's territory, shattering it in a flash of light before connecting with the girl and sending her flying into the surrounding woodlands.
He was dead.
She knew, after what Shidou had suffered, that he would never move again. After her many, many battles, she was no stranger to death.
Yes... as long as she could remember, she had been fighting. Fighting and fighting and yet more fighting.
She thought she'd grown numb to it all, but something inside her was creaking as she fought once again, twisting past its tolerance. It felt like it would shatter at any moment, and when that happened...
No, that didn't really matter anymore, did it?
After all, she was alone once more.
She clutched at her chest. The sheer agony of it all was unbearable.
This pain... this pain which she had lived with since the day she was born had finally ceased. And now that Shidou was gone, it was back, all the more painful for the brief respite.
She would destroy it all. Destroy everything until nothing was left. And maybe then she would forget this awful agony.
But first, she had to destroy the one who had taken everything from her.
The battered and bloody form of the AST warrior lay before her, unable to do anything against the fate that awaited her.
Tohka glared at the girl with all the hate in the world and raised Sandalphon high above her head, ready for the first swing of many more to come.
15,000 meters above, the bridge of the Fraxinus was in disarray.
"I'm not getting any vital sighs from Shidou!"
"A spacequake alarm has been issued!"
"Princess' mood values are in the red!"
Amidst the chaos, Kotori remained calm, twirling the lollipop in her mouth. With an equally calm motion, she finished off the candy with a hard crunch, handed the stick off to Kannazuki, and took a deep breath.
"QUIET!" she bellowed. "Is this how my crew acts at the first hint of danger! I trained you better than this!"
Instantly, the bridge quieted, though it was clear they were still unsettled.
Thanks to the AST's efforts to quietly evacuate the surrounding area, Princess' — or rather, Tohka's — battle was unlikely to result in any casualties. Kotori loathed the idea of giving those people any credit, but she couldn't deny that their efforts had prevented the worst outcome.
That said, it was just a matter of time until that girl turned her sights on the rest of the city...
"How's Shidou?" Kotori stated. "Has he come to yet?"
In the lower deck, Shiizaki faced her with heavy eyes.
"Shidou? Commander... he's..."
"Did I stutter? Pull up the drone footage."
Some ways away from Tohka's slaughter, in the rubble of Dream Park, an ethereal flame consumed the corpse of Shidou Itsuka.
But, rather than destroying his flesh, the fire seemed to restore his body, slowly mending the wound Origami had dealt until not a trace remained.
A moment passed before Shidou sprang to life, screaming before belatedly realizing that he was in no pain.
"The hell..." He patted down his body in search of injuries. "I could have sworn Origami split me in half..."
From the earpiece in his ear, he heard a sigh.
"...You're awake." Kotori breathed. "Took you long enough..."
"I have so many questions... Wait, where's Tohka?"
"There's no time. We're teleporting you to her location right now."
"Oka—AAAAAAY!"
Shidou was suddenly falling through the sky above Tengu City, still completely naked. He flailed around uselessly as he tumbled through the air, trying to spot Tohka before it was too late.
Where... are you... Ah!
There she was, her broadsword held high in the air before a cowering Origami. Even from this distance, Shidou could see the pain clear as day in her body.
And so, he shouted her name at the top of his lungs.
"TOHKAAAAA!"
Her swing stopped midair, as easily as if she were holding nothing but cardboard, and she spun around, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Tohka, it's me!" He waved his arms. "I'm right here!"
Face melting into the widest smile Shidou had ever seen, Tohka tossed Sandalphon aside and shot off the ground, catching him in a gentle arc that left the two of them hovering several hundred meters in the air above a great bluff overlooking the entirety of the city.
The two stared into each other's eyes like that for a long moment.
"Hey, Tohka," he spoke gently. "Sorry I scared you like that. Do you... wanna finish what we started?"
"Of course." She beamed, stroking his member. "You seem pretty ready yourself."
Ah, that...
Shidou would never tell Tohka this, but the reason for his hardon right now had nothing to do with her. Falling naked through the sky was scary as hell and well, some men experienced a particular sort of involuntary reaction when terrified like that.
Yes. This was the fear boner.
Well, not like I'm complaining. This makes things a lot easier.
Shidou leaned forward, planting tender kisses along Tohka's collarbone.
"Shidou..." she moaned his name, a hand slipping down between their thighs and guiding him inside her.
Swaddled in that familiar heat and wetness, the need inside him became intolerable. Shidou's fingers sank into Tohka's ass as he gripped it and pounded his hips into hers.
They moaned loudly and without any restraint, their legs becoming entangled and wet with the evidence of their passion as they fucked each other like their lives depended on it.
It wasn't long before Shidou felt an intense pressure building in his loins.
"Ah, Tohka! I'm-cumming!"
"I... I think I'm... cumming too, Shidou...!"
Her voice thrilled and horny all at once, Tohka's body gradually tensed and tensed like a taut bow as Shidou pounded away at her.
And then— she came.
It was as if her insides had become a vacuum cleaner, such was the strength of her grip. This was definitely no human orgasm, and before Shidou knew it, he was cumming right along with her.
And as he did so, a deep warmth spread into his body through his connection with Tohka, growing stronger with every rope of cum he shot inside her. At the same time, her naked dress began to disappear, emitting a dazzling display like fireworks as they came together.
Tohka's sealing was complete.
Their bodies utterly spent, the pair gently drifted back down to earth, and it took everything Shidou had not to collapse as he supported Tohka's weight while the two caught their breath.
In the distance was the setting sun, illuminating her long hair as it danced beautifully in the wind.
The beauty of it all took Shidou's breath away.
It was such a romantic scene.
And then his meat, now soft, slipped crudely out of Tohka, releasing a stream of hot cum down her thighs. Scooping some up, she studied the stringy, goopy substance between her fingers.
"Shidou, what is this?"
A wry smile planted itself on his face.
"That's... semen. It came out of my penis when I came."
Tohka's face lit up and she threw her arms round Shidou's shoulders, pressing her sweaty, exhausted body against his in a tight embrace.
"Ah, I knew it! Just like the fish!"
At these silly words, the wry smile on Shidou's face slipped into something more tender and warm.
This girl, so bright and curious that she seemed to rival the sun itself. She really was beautiful. And he had saved her from a world that seemed intent on snuffing that beauty out.
Wrapping his arms snugly around Tohka's waist and burying his face in her hair, Shidou promised himself that unlike those fish, the two of them would never part ways again.