Chapter 14

"No, it's true," Shido said, scratching his cheek.

(That's not even many people. What's so surprising? You've obviously never seen a subway station in China. ┐(─__─)┌)

Beside him, Lingmeng watched the girl's astonished expression and kept the thought to herself.

Still, she couldn't blame the girl. Whenever she appeared, emergency evacuation alarms sounded through the streets. The only humans she'd probably seen were AST members, and there weren't nearly this many of them.

Your Name Is Tohka

"Um..." Shido had meant to call the girl by name, but the words died in his throat.

"Hmm?" The girl seemed to notice something was wrong and frowned. After resting a hand against her chin and thinking for a moment, she spoke.

"...Right. If I'm going to talk to someone, I'll need one." She nodded, then asked, "Shido, Lingmeng, what are you going to call me?"

"Huh?" Shido and Lingmeng cried together.

"Didn't you hear me? I'm asking you to give me a name."

"Ah, that's a tough one. I'm not very good at naming things!"

Lingmeng spread her hands helplessly and told the truth.

She really was terrible at it. In her previous life, she'd used much the same screen name everywhere. If it was taken, she'd just tack a few random numbers onto the end rather than think up another one.

Shido, meanwhile, fell silent.

(That's way too much responsibility! Aaaaaah...)

Shido screamed inwardly.

"You really want the two of us to name you?"

"Yes. You two are the only ones I'll talk to anyway, so it won't be a problem."

"Well, if she's that set on it, let's give her a name, Shido."

Lingmeng smiled at the hesitant Shido.

"...All right..." Since Lingmeng had agreed, Shido went along with it.

"Lingmeng, you go first." The girl gave Lingmeng the first chance to name her.

"Ah, I'll have to think carefully about this." Lingmeng looked casual enough, but inside she was panicking.

This wasn't like naming herself or a pet in her previous life. She was naming a living person. She couldn't just pick something like Red, Yellow, or Purple, could she?

"Uh...how about Xier Ya?" Lingmeng asked unsteadily, breaking into an awkward sweat.

She couldn't think of a good name, so she'd simply borrowed one from someone she knew.

"No! That name sounds like it belongs to someone who isn't very bright. I refuse!"

The girl pursed her lips, folded her arms, and rejected it outright.

"Well, that was quick." Despite the rejection, Lingmeng was delighted. Someone had called Xier Ya not very bright, and she wholeheartedly agreed.

"Shido, your turn." The girl looked at him, her eyes full of expectation.

"Whoa, that's another tough question." Kotori scratched her cheek in the captain's chair.

"...Hmm. What should he say?" Reine murmured from the lower level of the bridge.

Ordinarily, choices would have appeared on the screen by now. But since they were choosing a name, a computer-generated list would have far too many options to display.

"Shido, stay calm. Whatever you do, don't say anything weird." After warning him, Kotori stood and called to the crew.

"Everyone, think of a name for her right now and send me your suggestions!"

The crew's suggestions came in almost as soon as she finished speaking.

"Let's see...Kawagoe! Isn't Misako your ex-wife's name?"

"I'm terribly sorry! I couldn't think of anything else!"

An apologetic male voice came from below.

"...Honestly. What else is there...Reisho? Senbon, how do you pronounce this?"

"KURARABERU!"

"You are never allowed to have children!" Kotori pointed at the crewman and shouted.

"I'm terribly sorry! My oldest is already in elementary school!"

"Your oldest?"

"Yes! I have three children!"

"Out of curiosity, what are their names?"

"From oldest to youngest: Misora, Furumentai, and Seirabumu!"

"You have one week to change their names and move out of their school district!"

"Do I really have to go that far?"

"Think about how your children feel, saddled with those ridiculous names, you goby!"

"They're fine! That's the style of names these days!"

What a tasteless bunch of subordinates. Kotori shook her head helplessly.

Just then, an alarm sounded. On the screen, the girl's expectant expression had turned impatient.

"No good. We need a name worthy of a girl that beautiful, and fast! Surely only something classical, noble, and elegant will do?"

Shido, I've got it. Say it with me—

"Aru!"

"Aru! Your name is Aru!"

Shido had barely finished speaking when red lights flashed through the command room and a shrill beep—beep— rang out. The affection gauge beneath the main screen dropped into the blue: she was unhappy.

"Hey, Shido, are you serious about a name that stupid?" Lingmeng blurted out in disbelief.

"...Of course." Shido answered firmly. Kotori had chosen it, so he'd had no choice but to say it.

"Oho. Then you're done for." For some reason, Lingmeng looked at Shido as though he were a dead man walking, making him squirm.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shido asked, puzzled.

"See for yourself." Lingmeng pointed toward the girl.

Shido turned. The girl raised her right hand, and tiny balls of light appeared at her fingertips. Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop! They fired at his feet like a machine gun.

"Aaaaaah!" Shido cried as he dodged.

"...Kotori?" Reine called when she saw Kotori frozen in place.

"Huh? That's strange. I thought it was a lovely name with a classical feel."

"I don't know why, but I feel like you're making fun of me. That name sounds even worse than Xier Ya! Are you two taking this seriously?"

Looking at the floor, now riddled with holes, Shido broke into a cold sweat.

(Sorry to all the old ladies named Aru, but by today's standards, it really doesn't suit a young girl. d(OдO?))

"Wait, I know a good way to choose a name." Seeing that Shido was about to be riddled with holes himself, Lingmeng hurried to speak.

"Hmm? What is it, Lingmeng?" The girl tilted her head and stopped firing.

"If we're giving you a name, it should mean something, right? We met on April tenth. Why not start there?"

Lingmeng explained with an easy smile.

"Oh, that's a good idea." The girl nodded in agreement.

"So, Shido, try coming up with a name from that!" Lingmeng smiled at him.

"...Okay." Shido fell into thought again.

Then an idea struck him. "Tohka! Your name is Tohka!"

Are You Going to Run?

"Um...what do you think of it?"

Shido watched the girl anxiously, afraid he'd upset her again.

"..." After a moment's silence, the girl said, "All right. At least it's better than Aru and Xier Ya."

"I'm glad you like it..." Shido gave a wry smile and scratched his cheek out of habit.

"Ah, because we met on April tenth? It does sound better than the other two, but it's a little obvious."

Lingmeng seemed to have worked out how Shido had chosen it and couldn't resist commenting.

"Lingmeng, you don't have to say it out loud!" Shido whispered, sweating.

She was right, but it was still the best name he could come up with in so little time.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Lingmeng waved a hand without the slightest trace of apology and fell quiet.

"What were you two talking about?" Perhaps she was too excited about having a name, but the girl didn't seem to have heard their exchange.

"N-no, nothing..." Shido waved his hands frantically. The girl looked confused, but she didn't press him.

"So how do you write Tohka?"

"Easy. Yatogami Tohka..."

Answering her question, Lingmeng began explaining the stroke order.

"...Say it plainly!" The girl frowned. She had no idea what Lingmeng was talking about.

"Fine, fine. Shido, go up and show her!"

Lingmeng shrugged helplessly and put Shido to work.

"Sure." Shido went to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. "You write it like this."

As he spoke, he wrote the characters for Tohka.

"Hmph." The girl gave a soft snort and copied his movements with her fingertip.

"Ah, that won't work. You need chalk to write—"

"Shido, just watch."

Shido had been about to stop the girl from trying to write with her finger, but Lingmeng cut him off.

Wherever the girl's finger touched, it left a neat, clean groove. The characters for Tohka appeared on the blackboard, a little crooked.

"What?"

"...No, nothing." Shido answered awkwardly.

"Really?" the girl said. She studied the characters she'd written and nodded with satisfaction.

"Shido. Lingmeng."

"...What is it?"

"What's up?"

Shido and Lingmeng asked, puzzled.

"Tohka."

"Huh?" they said together.

"Tohka. That's my name. It sounds nice, doesn't it?"

"Yeah! It sounds great!" Lingmeng said, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Y-yeah!" Shido scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed. He'd chosen the name himself, so being asked whether it sounded nice was mortifying.

The girl—no, Tohka now—spoke again—