【After sealing, what will the spirit become to you?】
Shidou Itsuka had never considered this question.
Before, there had been no time to consider.
It was simply pure empathy for others’ pain, unable to ignore that sorrowful expression.
Though he had been stunned by the girl’s beauty that could be called violent, Shidou Itsuka held no inexplicable possessive desire toward that beauty.
Everyone has their own aesthetic; taking a few extra glances at cute or beautiful things is perfectly normal.
But now…
Stumped by the question, Shidou Itsuka instinctively looked toward the beautiful girl sitting beside him, eyes sparkling as she gazed over with expectation.
She was the first spirit he had encountered, named Tohka—a name he had hastily come up with on the spot, taken from the “tenth day” of the date 【April 10th】.
Looking back now, it felt a bit careless, but fortunately, she seemed satisfied with it.
Become the spirit’s what…
Frankly speaking, Tohka was beautiful—exceedingly so.
The kind of violent beauty that stimulated the soul.
To encounter such a girl—no man could refuse.
Provided she were a normal human.
His proud, cute little sister also wore an expression of great concern.
Shidou Itsuka had never imagined his sister could be a spirit.
His memories of sealing her were fragmented and broken—only recalling the young girl crying and shouting for her brother amidst a sea of flames, fragile and vulnerable.
The girl calling herself Kyoumi still watched him with that rose-pink single eye.
Her body, not much larger than Kotori’s, showed no trace of the immaturity expected of someone her age.
If Tohka’s inexperienced, curiosity-filled demeanor was that of a newborn spirit, then it was hard to imagine what this logically clear, fox-like, elusive girl had been through—and what price she had paid.
Had he not seen the footage, Shidou Itsuka could never have believed this was the calamity that turned a city upside down and indirectly caused nearly 100,000 casualties.
Had his arm not been severed, had a longsword not been pointed at his throat nearly ending his life, Shidou Itsuka would never have believed this delicate, fragile-seeming girl could harvest lives in the blink of an eye.
No—even having seen it, it was hard to believe.
Thus, even if it meant injury or death, he already wanted to understand her.
He wanted to understand the weariness she unintentionally revealed, the things she feared and hoped for behind her rationality and overwhelming power.
He wanted to gently stroke the scars beneath those bandages, wanted them to never be hurt again, never again bear the sin called spacequake.
“…Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it.”
His thoughts weren’t fully organized—time was too short—but Shidou Itsuka couldn’t let others wait forever on this question.
“Is that okay, Kotori?”
Under three gazes, Shidou Itsuka removed his earpiece.
“You already took it off, so I can’t say anything. Geez…”
Vaguely sensing something, Kotori Itsuka sighed and, under Tohka’s confused gaze, accepted the communication earpiece from her brother.
“Reine, cut their visuals and audio.”
She quietly instructed the analyst connected to her.
「…Kotori… is it okay with me?」
If audio was cut, Reine’s side would naturally be silenced too, but Kotori meant to disable the visuals others could see.
Reine could read lips—or rather, there were few things she couldn’t do.
“It’s fine. With Reine, it’s fine. You’re the person I trust most… but swear you won’t tell anyone else.”
Marveling slightly at her friend’s capabilities, Kotori Itsuka responded in a low voice.
「…Mm, I swear.」
“Kotori and I aren’t blood-related siblings.”
She had said this before, but no one interrupted Shidou Itsuka.
They simply waited quietly for what followed.
Shidou Itsuka had been adopted by the Itsuka family—a child abandoned by his birth mother.
A mother is essential to a child.
Being abandoned, to young Shidou, was no different from having his very existence denied—an event of sky-collapsing despair.
The situation back then had been terrible.
Shidou Itsuka had once harbored suicidal thoughts.
Even under the loving care of the Itsuka couple who treated him as their own and with Kotori’s support, that numb state had persisted for over a year.
Since then, Shidou Itsuka had been abnormally sensitive to others’ despair.
Whether someone whose existence was denied or someone who believed no one would ever care for them… seeing them in that state was like seeing his past self.
He couldn’t ignore it.
“That time, it was my foster parents and Kotori who supported and saved me. I want to save you all the same way. It might sound presumptuous… but just like my foster parents, just like the Kotori who saved me…”
It seemed hard to say, but the words came from the heart, making Shidou Itsuka’s resolute expression reveal something uniquely youthful.
“—I want to become family to the spirits, to Tohka and Kyoumi!”
“Shidou…”
Moved by the brief story, Tohka—who seemed to have no parents—struggled for words.
Naturally kind, she wanted to comfort the boy, but it had been so long ago, far beyond the reach of her present self.
“I still have half a pudding for you!”
All she could do was clumsily push the remaining dessert toward him, nodding earnestly.
“It’s really sweet!”
“Ah… I’m fine, Tohka. That was all in the past. Look, I’m doing great now…”
Affected by the girl’s innocent gesture, Shidou Itsuka instinctively rubbed Tohka’s head—likely from experience rubbing Kotori’s.
The gentle, soothing motion made Tohka’s eyes widen in surprise before she relaxed into a comfortable expression.
But the final judgment came from the girl who asked.
Whether his answer would be accepted—Shidou Itsuka looked uncertainly at the purple-haired spirit.
“…What a cunningly unexpected answer…”
Friends, lovers, master-servant, or employer-employee cooperation, even sugar-daddy arrangements—the girl had considered many possibilities.
None included the boy’s answer.
Would humans want to become family with a calamity?
Of course not—because Shidou Itsuka didn’t see them as calamities, even having witnessed it, even having experienced it firsthand.
What Shidou Itsuka saw and wanted to save were simply the girls represented by their names—not the spirits who destroyed the world.
“Self-sentimentality? No… self-satisfaction… no, not that either… your expression isn’t about saving your past self… haa…”
Rarely, confusion appeared in the rose-pink eye.
Kyoumi clutched her forehead as if overwhelmed.
“You just can’t bear others falling into the same state as you… you guy…”
Where did this saint come from?
…With this personality, I already feel sorry for my future self…
“Last question…”
As if giving up, Kyoumi closed her eyes and rubbed her brow.
“The woman who abandoned you—your birth mother—do you hate her?”