Yoshino: ...Yes... the rain in the background was caused by my spiritual power

Tohka rested her chin in both hands, her clear amethyst eyes unblinking as they stared at the rain streaking down the window, lost in thought.

The silver-haired figure who gave her soybean flour bread, appeared in all sorts of strange ways, and fought the "robot army" alongside her had not been seen for quite some time.

It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth, never appearing before her or Shiori again.

She had asked Shiori about it.

Every time, Shiori's blue eyes would flicker, then she would put on a somewhat forced, worried smile and brush the matter aside with a few words.

Tohka had once felt rather downcast.

Although Shiori kept saying it was not her fault, she still felt it was because she had eaten too much that day, without considering the other person's feelings at all, then charged headlong into battle the moment they encountered those awful people.

Although Shiori said, "It's not your fault, Tohka. Absolutely not," Tohka could not help thinking about it.

In any case, rainy days really did make people think too much.

Part of the cookies left in the box in her hands had been meant for her to share with Qian Huanyue.

She remembered that Qian Huanyue seemed to like sweets too. Back at the snack street, she had enjoyed strawberry cake and snacks like cookies.

"Is today's fried chicken not to your liking, Tohka?" Shiori asked, noticing that the food in Tohka's lunch box had barely been touched.

Tohka came back to herself and hurriedly shook her head, forcing out a smile. "Um... no, it's very good, Shiori." To prove it, she picked up a piece of fried chicken and took a small bite, but her chewing was noticeably sluggish.

Seeing Tohka forcing a smile, Shiori's heart ached as well. She must have made Huanyue angry that day. She had always had her contact information, yet since that day, Huanyue had not sent even a single reply.

Shiori sat down, picked up a piece of the char siu she had made, and stuffed it into her mouth. Just as she was about to find another topic—

[—Shiori! Emergency!] Kotori's unusually unsettled voice suddenly came through the tiny earpiece hidden in her ear. In the background, she could hear a series of keyboard taps from the bridge of the [Fraxinus].

[We've detected an intense combat response at a secret DEM Industries island facility in the open sea! Energy-spectrum analysis confirms it—it's Qian Huanyue's spiritual power! And... Nightmare's spiritual power is involved too! They're fighting DEM's wizards!]

"Cough! Urgh..." Shiori choked on the sudden news and nearly spat out the char siu in her mouth. She clapped a hand over her mouth and coughed violently several times.

What was DEM? What did it mean that Qian Huanyue was fighting wizards? Was Nightmare another Spirit? And what were wizards?

"Shiori?" Tohka was frightened by Shiori's violent reaction and instantly pale face. She put down her lunch box and grabbed Shiori's arm worriedly. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick? Should we go to the infirmary?"

"N-No... I'm fine. I just choked by accident." She stood up, packed away her lunch box, and gave Tohka as natural a smile as she could manage. "Tohka, I suddenly remembered I have something to take care of. Eat slowly, and remember to take your lunch box back when you're done."

"Ah, okay, Shiori." Though still somewhat puzzled, Tohka obediently nodded.

Shiori practically fled the classroom, hurrying toward the secret empty classroom that the [Fraxinus] had set up within the school.

The room was dimly lit, with only the enormous central display screen casting any light.

Kotori stood with her back to Shiori before the screen. Her signature black ribbon was tied into a bow, and she clenched a Chupa Chups lollipop tightly between her teeth. The atmosphere was grave.

Reine stood at the nearby console, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Her expression was as usual, still carrying that ethereal, perpetually on-the-verge-of-collapse look.

The image on the screen was unclear, filled with interference static and distortions caused by energy overload, but Shiori recognized the figure at a glance—

It was Qian Huanyue!

She floated in midair, her signature silver hair streaming wildly in the raging air currents. In her hand was the constantly shifting [Seraph of Thousand Blades], the weapon that had left such a deep impression on Shiori.

Terrifying energy that made one's heart tremble had gathered around the greatsword.

All around her, countless floating mechanical [Bandersnatch] units poured dense beams of light toward Qian Huanyue from every direction.

Farther away, several DEM wizards in skin-tight tactical gear, with luminous thruster wings on their backs, moved at high speed and coordinated their attacks with the mechanical units.

At the edge of the screen, Kurumi Tokisaki's figure could vaguely be seen weaving through the shadows. The flintlock rifle in her hand occasionally spat flames, keeping the enemy occupied.

"Is this... live footage?" Shiori's voice trembled. She could not imagine Qian Huanyue being in such danger.

Kotori immediately noticed something wrong with her sister's emotions and viciously kicked her. "What are you thinking, you idiot sister? For a fully manifested Spirit, this level of attack is nothing."

She paused, fast-forwarded the video, and pointed at a stern-looking woman with foreign features, wearing a Realizer. "...The most troublesome one. Ellen Mira Mathers, DEM's ace and the strongest wizard in the world."

As if to confirm Kotori's words, the woman on the screen charged at Qian Huanyue at a speed too fast for the eye to follow. She crashed fiercely against the [Seraph of Thousand Blades], unleashing blinding light and a violent energy shockwave. Even through the screen, they seemed able to feel its terrifying power.

Shiori's heart nearly skipped a beat, and she instinctively covered her mouth.

Huanyue!!!

Then the screen froze for a while.

Without turning around, Reine explained in her usual weary voice, though she spoke quickly. "DEM's interference is too strong. We can only capture footage like this. After some time, the signal cut out completely."

Just as Shiori's heart rose into her throat, the screen flickered several times, recovering its unstable signal and continuing with the later footage—

The scene appeared to have changed. The formerly dense mass of [Bandersnatch] units had become wreckage scattered across the ground, crackling with electrical sparks. The DEM wizards wearing CR-UNITs lay sprawled everywhere as well, no longer capable of fighting.

Opposite her was Ellen Mira Mathers, kneeling on one knee and seemingly badly injured.

On screen, Qian Huanyue appeared to be saying something to the wizards, including Ellen.

Because of the signal and distance, no sound could be heard; they could only see her lips moving. Ellen raised her head, her face holding an expression Shiori could not understand, mixed with stubbornness and some complicated emotion.

At that very moment—

Ellen, who had seemed incapable of resisting, had somehow already adjusted her stance. The light sword [Caledfwlch] in her hand moved at a speed invisible to the naked eye, precisely—

Squelch!

A soft, muffled sound came through the audio equipment, yet it seemed infinitely amplified inside Shiori's mind.

The beam from [Caledfwlch] pierced through Qian Huanyue's back and protruded from her abdomen.

!!!

Shiori's pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints, and her breathing stopped at once.

On the screen, Qian Huanyue stiffened. She lowered her head in disbelief toward the blade protruding through her body, blood spilling from her mouth.

Great streams of bright red blood flowed down the blade, rapidly staining the Astral Dress around her waist before dripping onto the charred ground below, spreading into a glaring patch of red.

The [Seraph of Thousand Blades] in her hand slipped as her knees gave way. She nearly fell to her knees—and in fact, she did.

"N-No way..." Shiori murmured in a broken voice, her entire body turning cold. She pinned her hopes on the several identical Spirit girls accompanying Huanyue, but to her anguish, the Kurumis were being held back as well. Powerlessly, Shiori watched the white-haired girl who had still been chatting and laughing with her just days ago turn pale at death's door.

"Huanyue—!!!"

The screen dissolved completely into static, indicating that the signal equipment over there was either suffering excessive interference fluctuations or had been destroyed.

Shiori went limp, her legs weak beneath her.

Countless fragments of the past surged uncontrollably into Shiori's mind like a burst dam—

Those warm everyday moments scented with food, the times she had been protected by her, and... at their parting, Qian Huanyue's words, like a sigh cut short, as if she had wanted to say something more: "Think about yourself more, Shiori."

Why...

Why? Why had she not held her back then? Why was she so clumsy with words? Why had she not reflected on what Huanyue might do? Why did it seem as though she did not understand Huanyue nearly as well as Huanyue understood her?

A heart-rending pain, like countless sharp needles, stabbed fiercely into Shiori's heart. Breathing became incredibly difficult. Her chest heaved violently, yet it felt as though she could not draw in even a trace of oxygen, and the edges of her vision began to darken.

Shiori felt that she was starting to hyperventilate.

"Save her..." Shiori's voice shook violently. "Kotori! Please! Find a way to save Huanyue! We can't just watch... we can't!"

Kotori looked terrible, her lips somewhat pale. She let out a sighing sound. "...We've already sent people there as quickly as possible..."

Shiori's mind became completely blank. She stared at Kotori tightly, almost obsessively, trying to find even a sliver of comfort, a sliver of hope, in her sister's equally awful expression—even a lie she could use to deceive herself.

No!

Please.

Please...

Even if she had to pray to gods and Buddhas, even if she had to give up everything—

Her inner pleas had already become incoherent, leaving only the most instinctive fear and rejection.

She was willing to pay any price, to pray to any existence—

Please don't...

Please don't what? She did not even dare form that word completely in her mind—the word that meant farewell, loss, and every warm color fading away forever.

"Ugh..." A stifled whimper, like that of a wounded little animal, escaped from deep in Shiori's throat. She could no longer hold herself up and collapsed onto the floor, covering her face tightly with both hands. Yet her tears poured fiercely through her fingers like a breached flood, soaking her sleeves.

And why did it have to be raining outside so fittingly!!!

Seeing her sister like this, Kotori's emotions were affected as well, and tears welled in her eyes. She crouched down and tightly embraced Shiori's trembling body, just as Shiori had embraced her when she cried as a child, repeating again and again in vain, "It'll be okay... it'll definitely be okay..."

"Perhaps Miss Qian Huanyue is indeed not in mortal danger." Reine's voice sounded as she straightened the teddy bear in her arms, her vacant eyes carrying a trace of complicated emotion.

"...From a purely utilitarian perspective," Reine continued in the same calm voice, looking as ethereal as ever, "for an organization like DEM, the value of killing a Spirit is far lower than the value of keeping her alive for research."

Alive... but falling into DEM's hands to be studied as an experimental subject?

"N-No..." Shiori muttered. "We can't let them... take Huanyue away... we can't..."

"Reine! Reassess it! What are the odds of success if we forcibly intervene in the rescue now?!" Kotori's voice was resolute. "Even if there's only a one percent chance, we have to try! Surely everyone at Ratatoskr won't refuse?"

If they used "that," perhaps it could work.

That was what Kotori thought.