First, let’s be clear: Kotori Itsuka does not have a collecting obsession.
She doesn’t randomly pick up shiny bottles or prettily packaged boxes to bring home.
Though she might occasionally entertain such thoughts, the sensible Kotori Itsuka would never do something so nonsensical.
But the little flag on the deluxe kids’ meal is an exception—or rather, it is now.
Some things are like that: they don’t seem important normally, but when they’re about to be taken, you guard them fiercely.
Instinctively, Kotori had no intention of handing the flag to Yuu Kagami.
“Aw, that’s a shame~”
Yuu said, sounding regretful, though her face showed no trace of it.
“Well then, I’m digging in.”
Mimicking Kotori’s earlier gesture, Yuu clapped her hands together lightly.
She picked up the chopsticks with slight awkwardness.
Lifting a fried shrimp, a pang in her wrist caused her fingers to fumble, and the perfectly golden snack fell back onto the plate.
Setting down the chopsticks with her right hand, Yuu tilted her head and switched to a spoon with her left, scooping rice into her mouth.
The grains were plump, the texture fragrant and crisp.
Perhaps Kotori’s adorable flag-guarding expression was appetizing enough to steadily lift Yuu’s mood.
But, as expected…
There was no sense of novelty.
The chocolate stick, the lollipop, the rice—all the same.
She recognized them the moment she saw them.
If I can explain my knowledge with some unknown ability, then tasting these brings neither the thrill of discovery nor a hint of nostalgia.
The Yuu from before those vague memories seemed to have found these things as commonplace as daily meals.
…My knowledge isn’t enough to explain this.
But at the very least… I might have once belonged to this world.
It didn’t add up.
From the information gathered from this organization, only Kotori was a spirit living among humans with sealed powers.
Yet, in Yuu’s common knowledge, spirits didn’t age or grow.
Suppose, just suppose, a boy who unknowingly sealed a spirit’s powers had, by chance, sealed Kotori’s when she was created as an artificial spirit.
And suppose a spirit with sealed powers could grow naturally as a human would.
If a sealed spirit could grow normally, then, based on this body’s apparent age, how long had she lived in this world before losing her memories…?
No, that was impossible…
Though she didn’t know why…
[My perfect body has never changed.]
That much she could be certain of.
She didn’t care much about her memories, but this inexplicable familiarity was unsettling.
Suppressing her thoughts, she quickened her eating pace.
Even if deluxe, it was still a kids’ meal portion.
It didn’t take long for Yuu to set down her spoon, leisurely playing with the boxed pudding meant for dessert.
“Not eating the pudding?”
“Nah, I’ll save it for Tohka. She’d probably enjoy it more.”
Yuu liked sweets too, but she doubted they’d bring her the same first-time thrill.
Leaving the best for her cute kin felt fair.
They’d agreed to regroup here, so the boy and the other spirit would arrive soon.
“Oh, thinking of another woman while on a date with me? How considerate, Miss Yuu~”
Kotori pulled a Double Chupa Chups from her pocket, popping it into her mouth with a carefree air.
“My beautiful kin deserves some special treatment. Besides, I’m not footing the bill.”
“Hmph, what’s with your wrist?”
Kotori hadn’t missed Yuu’s subtle urgency but shifted to the main topic after a sharp-tongued jab.
“Just a small price paid to earn some free strolling rights from the AST.”
That was what someone in her earpiece had analyzed, Yuu decided, responding.
“Ratatoskr can provide treatment. That eye, too—we’ll do our best.”
Kotori didn’t ask what “strolling rights” meant or how they were earned, simply showing her sincerity.
“I don’t have much sense of time, but this eye isn’t just a few days old. It’s barely usable anymore.”
Yuu’s fingers brushed the black-purple bandage, tracing the ridge beneath her eye socket as she shrugged.
Medical Realizers could treat most injuries, true, but only if treated promptly.
Months later, offering a prosthetic eye would be more realistic.
“That’s exactly why Ratatoskr exists—to ensure spirits don’t have to be killed and can live like normal people.”
No proof was needed; Kotori, sitting here, was evidence enough.
“No need to be killed? But you haven’t shown you can protect me.”
“…If your spiritual waves aren’t detected, your spirit identity stays hidden. Protecting a few ‘humans’ is easy for us.”
That was true.
Ratatoskr lacked the power to protect spirits, but safeguarding humans with sealed powers was well within their means.
“Even with the disaster I caused still fresh?”
“That’s the key. I want you to explain that massive destruction,” Kotori said, her ruby-red eyes scrutinizing the girl.
“I don’t believe it was purely revenge.”
Sweeping across the surface, leaving no buildings standing, destroying half a city, causing nearly 100,000 casualties… but…
It was too light.
Yes, from their last direct confrontation, Kotori had realized something.
If that earthquake-level destruction was Yuu’s enraged retaliation for losing an eye, it was too mild.
Since she’d promised to answer Kotori’s questions, Yuu didn’t tease.
Spreading her palms casually, she gave an answer Kotori hadn’t considered:
“Fighting her would’ve gotten me killed.”
“…What?”
Having seen the near-total domination in the footage and taken a beating herself, Kotori momentarily wondered if she’d forgotten how to understand Japanese.
“I said, the moment we clashed, I knew fighting her would get me killed.”
“That’s not funny. Even if she’s called the world’s strongest wizard, she couldn’t possibly kill you…”
“No joke. Losing my left eye meant Metatron couldn’t aim precisely. I don’t have enough spiritual energy to waste, and she had the speed advantage.”
“Plus, she said she’d cut off my limbs and drag me back.”
Attacks that miss are meaningless, and time was undoubtedly on her opponent’s side.
Metatron, a powerful Angel, came with intense stamina drain and couldn’t be sustained long.
“So I asked her,” a dangerous glint flickered in Yuu’s rose-red eyes, narrowing as a wild aura, at odds with her delicate frame, pricked at Kotori’s nerves.
“It’s over there, right?”
“I wasn’t sure what was there—a base maintaining her gear? Her colleagues? Or maybe her master? But it had to be where she planned to take my limbless body.”
“And for a moment, she showed a very interesting expression. I’d picked the right spot.”
No confidence in landing a hit? Then force her to retreat.
Dismantle, hurl, sweep—just destroy.
“Those coveting my body ought to pay a price.”
****
Current Intel—Stats Panel
Ability Scores (Base / With Angel):
– Strength (STR): 81 / 344
– Constitution (CON): 85 / 41
– Spiritual Power (SPI): 136 / 136
– Agility (AGI): 131 / 89
– Intelligence (INT): 201 / 151
– Total: 654 / 761
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