Yuu Kagami loves beautiful things.
Humans, dolls, vibrant packaging, or the varied wills others show toward her.
She cherishes them, remains patient for them, and doesn’t hesitate to give for them.
But if she were to rank this love and sincerity, the top spot…
“The embodiment of beauty, me—”
“If someone challenges me with their own will, with the resolve to fight, I’d see them in a different light…”
“Coveting my body, desiring to ruin this perfection, yet hiding in the shadows without even the courage to confess face-to-face—for such trash, I naturally have no patience.”
Unabashed self-affirmation.
To this girl, the threat of being killed paled compared to the loathsome declaration of severing her limbs to fulfill someone’s agenda.
“Put the narcissism on hold…”
Kotori Itsuka rubbed her temples, a headache forming.
The wild aura vanished as quickly as it came, but the contrast with Yuu’s words left a jarring emotional gap.
“So, you caused that massive destruction against DEM… not out of anger for being injured?”
“Her injuring me was her strength. What I care about is always the ‘attitude’ she showed when facing me.”
“If she’d declared it herself, I wouldn’t mind a serious fight. But she didn’t represent herself, so my focus wasn’t on her.”
Feeling disgust, believing herself insulted, Yuu saw no value in the wizard who held the power to kill her, just as those scheming to capture spirits behind the scenes disregarded her.
From the moment those words reached her ears, Yuu’s goal was to exact revenge on the mastermind hoping to reap the rewards.
The collateral damage to the surroundings was inconsequential.
“Their attitude…”
Kotori repeated the emphasized word, recalling the time after Shidou was taken, when Fraxinus reconnected with him.
Yuu’s aggressive questioning and merciless attack on the boy came to mind.
Later, confirming with Shidou about their time alone, he’d said, “She’s a bit forceful but doesn’t seem hard to get along with.”
Combined with the data showing her high affection toward Shidou yet unrelenting attacks, it started to make sense.
“Reine…”
Kotori quietly sought her friend’s opinion through the earpiece.
“Hmm… we couldn’t see the wizard’s lip movements in the footage, but Yuu’s words—‘It’s over there, right?’—match what she said. Combined with Shin’s information… her personality makes sense…”
“She probably saw Ratatoskr as an organization like DEM, tricking Shin and spirits into contact to seal and exploit them…”
Listening to Reine’s analysis, Kotori suddenly recalled Yuu’s question when she arrived for the date.
[“Is it you who came for the date, or all of you?”]
“If I’d said it was ‘us’ who came, what would you have done?”
Back then, Kotori had instinctively felt that a wrong answer would end any chance of dialogue.
She wanted to know what Yuu would’ve done if, in her eyes, it wasn’t Kotori Itsuka but Fraxinus’s commander who showed up.
“Hm? If you’d answered not with a worried brother but an organization’s name, I’d have probably crushed that annoying earpiece first, then gone to find that cute kin of mine, cutting off your chance to reach her.”
“Well, if the one who invited me wasn’t a beautiful girl but an organization obsessed with sealing spiritual powers, dreaming of earning my trust would be delusional.”
“…When I said you shouldn’t touch my subordinates, you were serious?”
“No, that was just my amusement. When you called your subordinates your children, I could accept their support as familial concern.”
Dangerous—this girl was still dangerous…
Kotori hadn’t expected things to progress this smoothly, but just imagining the consequences of displeasing Yuu earlier sent a chill down her spine.
“If I took off the earpiece now?”
“Then I’d only see a cute girl on a date with me~”
Yuu blinked, pausing her fiddling with the pudding box.
So… that’s how it is?
Compared to her initial assumptions, this girl was surprisingly straightforward…
But also hard to handle.
The best way to interact with her was without external help—Shidou alone, raising her affection to seal her powers.
…But that was difficult.
Without equipment to analyze, confirming if her affection reached sealable levels or avoiding emotional triggers was nearly impossible.
For a novice like Shidou, the challenge was steep.
More importantly, without Ratatoskr’s monitoring, ensuring Shidou’s safety would rely entirely on Yuu, an S-rank danger spirit…
Even with her decent baseline affection toward Shidou, it was hard to feel at ease.
At least until Shidou regained the healing flames, Kotori couldn’t let him face her alone.
“Wanting to seal my powers without mutual trust? If your resolve is that weak, this conversation can end here.”
“Trust…”
The word unsettled Kotori.
Emotionally, Kotori was willing to trust spirits, but not Yuu, who nearly cost Shidou his “kingly power” on their first encounter.
Despite her indirect explanations, Kotori still couldn’t relax.
Rationally, as Fraxinus’s commander and Shidou’s sister, Kotori opposed pushing him toward this dangerous spirit.
Both heart and logic screamed refusal, but she couldn’t say it.
Facing those expectant eyes, Kotori couldn’t outright reject her.
You’re not trustworthy?
Talk about trust after looking at the casualties you caused?
Any response felt like an excuse.
If she relayed this conversation to Shidou verbatim, he’d probably trust Yuu without hesitation.
Trust the girl who nearly killed him.
Because of that, Kotori was speechless.
Click—
“Welcome—!”
The sound of the door opening rang out.
At this hour, only two people would walk in.
Given they’d visited three shops already, Shidou and Tohka arrived earlier than expected.
“No more to discuss, huh?”
“…Yuu, I still find it hard to trust you, but…”
“But?”
“Shidou probably wouldn’t refuse you.”
As if hearing something amusing, Yuu paused, then turned to look at the blue-haired boy pushing through the door.
“Hm, I’m looking forward to it.”