Wait, Sis, Can't You Tell We're the Same Kind?

April 10.

"Signs of a Spacequake were just detected in this area."

"This is not a drill. Residents, proceed to the nearest shelter immediately. Repeating, signs were just detected in this area..."

Qian Huanyue stood on the street, quietly watching the shelter as she walked against the stream of people rushing inside.

Shiori Itsuka stood at the shelter's noisy, chaotic entrance, her fingers clenched around her phone.

On the screen, the location icon marking her younger sister Kotori sat over the family restaurant where they had agreed to meet, fixed in place like a stubborn thumbtack.

"Sorry, the person you are calling is temporarily unavailable..."

The recorded woman's voice from the phone mingled with the crowd's clamor and the emergency evacuation announcement repeating over the loudspeakers, leaving her breathless with anxiety.

I can't reach her... Why now, of all times...

Images of Kotori's usual innocent self rose unbidden in her mind—swinging her feet happily over a favorite lollipop, sleeping with a stuffed toy in her arms, chattering excitedly for days before a promised restaurant outing.

What if she didn't notice the announcement at all? What if she thought it was just a drill and stayed there, looking forward to our meal?

Shiori pictured her sister outside the restaurant, crying with her head in her hands as she waited.

Shiori's pupils contracted. Without a moment's hesitation, she spun around and pushed against the flow of people still pouring into the shelter.

"Hey! Where are you going, Itsuka? It's dangerous out there!" her friend Tonomachi Zi called after her.

But Shiori seemed not to hear. Only one thought remained in her mind, one clear, urgent goal—

I have to check! I have to bring Kotori back!

A wave of violet energy swept toward her like a tide of destruction. It caught Shiori and hurled her into the air. She squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden weightlessness, but the impact she expected never came.

A gentle force caught her.

"...Mm."

Still shaken, Shiori opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a transparent barrier rippling like water, shutting out the devastating blast and rushing air. Beyond it, wreckage from the shattered street flew past.

She looked up at the figure standing before her.

Gone were the casual clothes she usually saw. In their place was a magnificent, mysterious Astral Dress impossible to overlook.

Its centerpiece was a deep-black gown. The skirt was not ordinary fabric but some translucent material, as though the night sky and dark crystal had been woven together, catching faint glints as energy flowed through it. A sheer black veil covered roughly a quarter of her face, lending her a distant, hazy air. Black stockings rose past her knees, outlining the elegant shape of her legs, while intricate lace adorned her black gloves.

This was Qian Huanyue's Astral Dress, "Godly Astral Dress: Thousandfold."

The attire had a ceremonial solemnity to it, yet it also radiated undeniable power.

The person before her was undoubtedly Qian Huanyue. But this was a Qian Huanyue Shiori had never seen before: Qian Huanyue as a Spirit.

"Hey, hey—repeat after me. One, two, three. One, two, three. You okay, Shido?" Qian Huanyue asked without turning around. Her voice came through the veil in that familiar, unruffled tone, and somehow, under the circumstances, it was reassuring.

Qian Huanyue was making a joke only she understood, partly to ease the tension. The person behind her looked terrified.

"...Mm." Shiori could only manage another indistinct sound. The sight before her and the sudden change in Qian Huanyue's identity had nearly shut her brain down.

Qian Huanyue kept Shiori behind her, a transparent defensive barrier spread out in front of them.

She met the gaze of the Spirit ahead of her, who wore ornate armor and carried a massive sword.

The Spirit—Princess—showed no flicker of emotion in her amethyst eyes. Apparently convinced Qian Huanyue was a grave threat, she swung her greatsword without hesitation.

A massive blade of energy ripped through the ground and the buildings behind it.

Qian Huanyue stood calmly to one side, as if the strike capable of tearing the earth apart had been no more than a passing breeze. She even found time to smooth a few strands of hair stirred loose by the blast.

Shiori's pupils tightened. Everything before her challenged the way she had understood the world since childhood.

"Are you... here to kill me too?"

With that question, the Spirit identified as Princess swept her cold amethyst gaze over them both and pointed her sword at Qian Huanyue.

As far as Princess could tell, Qian Huanyue was the greater danger. The ordinary "man" behind her looked harmless.

"Have you got the wrong idea?"

Faced with that life-or-death question and the gleaming sword, Qian Huanyue tilted her head. The eye visible on the uncovered half of her face turned into a bewildered little dot.

Come on, sis. Can't you tell I'm different from the AST who usually attack you? We're the same kind.

Inwardly, Qian Huanyue was already rubbing her forehead.

"Take a good look," Qian Huanyue said through her veil, a helpless smile in her voice. "I don't have any of those annoying drive units or Realizers on me. These clothes are an Astral Dress, just like yours."

She pointed to her splendid black gown, then to Princess's radiant armored dress.

"We're... the same kind of being."

The words landed like a stone in a still lake, sending a faint ripple through Princess's amethyst eyes. The hand gripping Sandalphon's hilt slowly began to lower.

For the first time, something besides wariness and coldness appeared in her eyes: a trace of confusion, and a searching look.

She really couldn't sense the loathsome Spiritual Power fluctuations of AST's machinery from the girl in black, nor any open killing intent. The power surrounding Qian Huanyue felt different from her own, but at its core... it did seem to come from the same source.

"The same... kind of being?" Princess repeated softly, a faint bewilderment in her voice.

The words were utterly unfamiliar to her.

For as long as she could remember, she had known nothing but endless attacks, attempts to drive her away, and cries for her to die.

The idea of being the "same kind" as someone had never existed in her world.

Yet just as the tension began to ease—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sharp sounds cut through the air, growing closer. Several figures in heavy tactical Realizers descended on blue thruster trails. The AST members landed precisely on the high points around the ruins, forming a loose ring around the three below.

Of all the squad members, Origami Tobiichi was the first to spot the figure caught between the two Spirits, looking impossibly small and helpless—Shiori Itsuka.

Shiori... Why is she there?!

Origami's pupils contracted, and her heart nearly stopped. The person she cared about most was at the center of the danger, caught in the crossfire between the Spirits and her squad. Her grip on reason snapped. The instinct to protect Shiori overrode every tactical order.

"Change targets! Draw their fire!" She did not even wait to give a full report over the comms. With that clipped shout, her thrusters surged to maximum power, and she shot toward Princess like an arrow loosed from its bow.

Her assault rifle spat fire. Bullets struck precisely at Princess's flank, their purpose unmistakable: to draw the Spirit's attention away from Shiori.

"Spirit Princess identified, along with a... Magic Swordsman response! Highest-level threats! Commence extermination immediately!"

"Repeating, commence—"

At the word "extermination," Princess's gaze, which had only just begun to soften, froze over. It was colder than before. She raised Sandalphon high again, and violent Spiritual Power swept around her like a storm!

Qian Huanyue summoned her Angel, Seraph of Thousand Blades.

Countless swords appeared in midair, gathered together, and merged into a single, more solid blade.

She swung her Angel, tearing open space once more. Afterimages flashed from the blade in rapid succession.

Those translucent sword-shadows became a devastating torrent, as though they had minds of their own. But they did not strike Princess. They curved around her with precision and rained down on the AST members on every side.

"What?! That's—!"

"Defend! Hurry!"

The AST members cried out in terror.

Their Territories tore apart the instant the torrent of sword-shadows touched them, and piercing alarms shrieked from their Realizers.

The sword-shadows did not pierce their bodies. They missed by a hair's breadth, shattering weapons, wrecking thrusters, and gouging deep marks into armor.

Their once-tight encirclement collapsed in an instant. The AST members scattered, dodging desperately.

The only AST member still able to fight was Origami Tobiichi, who was crossing blades with Princess.