Date A Live

The noon bell had barely finished ringing when the siren took over.

This is not a drill. Precursory signs of a spatial quake have been detected in this area. Please evacuate to the nearest shelter immediately.

“Another one?” Tonomachi said. Across the classroom, Origami had stood up without a word and was walking out against the tide of students. Shido's eyes followed her to the door.

Where's she going?

In a dark room somewhere beyond the city, blue holograms flickered over a field of unreadable graphs, and a handful of voices spoke in low tones. Someone said a name, and someone else answered with satisfaction. Princess has arrived.

Out in the streets, the shelter entrances were already sealing shut and sinking into the ground, train cars on the rails going down with them. Tama-chan was herding the students along with a shrill, near-panicked recital of the evacuation rules, and Tonomachi leaned over and told her gently that she might want to calm down. Shido barely heard either of them. He had his phone against his ear, watching the little screen.

She evacuated. Of course she did. She can't still be at the diner.

He pulled up Kotori's location. The marker sat in front of the restaurant.

He saw it all at once: his sister sitting on the curb with her feet together, trying not to cry, waiting for a promise. I'll be there even if a spatial quake happens. He had laughed when she said it.

“Shido, hey, wait! Shido!”

He was already running.

The streets were empty and the sky was a flat, clear blue. He kept going, her smile flashing through his head. Why didn't you just take shelter? The city's about to be destroyed and you're worried about a promise? He cut into a side street, and the world turned black.

A sphere of darkness erupted ahead of him and swelled outward, swallowing the buildings as it grew. The shockwave caught him and threw him flat. He rolled, gasping, and looked up in time to see the black mass shiver and burn away to nothing just before it reached him.

When the glare cleared, the street was gone.

A crater lay where it had been, huge and silent, smoking at the edges. Shido stared. Then he saw that someone was standing at the very bottom.

A girl, in a suit of violet armor. Her long straight hair and her eyes were the same deep violet, and she was looking up the slope at him without fear. She had no reason to be afraid.

A girl...? What is she doing down there?

She wrapped both hands around the hilt of a broad sword set into some kind of dais and drew it out in one motion. She swung. A violet shockwave tore across the ground a hand's width from Shido, and behind him a building vanished.

“So you're one of them as well.”

Her voice was level, almost tired. She leveled the sword at him.

“So it's true. You came to kill me.”

Shido's legs gave out. He sat down hard on the broken asphalt, and no words came.

“Don't bother denying it. I'll finish you before the others arrive.”

“W-wait! Please, wait! That isn't why I came!”

“...What?”

“I could never kill anyone. I—” His voice cracked, and he forced out the rest. “I didn't come here to hurt you.”

She narrowed her eyes, studying him. Then her gaze flicked skyward, and she turned.

Five armored shapes were crossing the sky on jet wings. Missiles streaked out from their launchers.

“Uwaaaah!”

The girl raised her left arm and a violet light spread in front of her like a screen, taking every blast. “Why can they never understand how pointless this is,” she murmured. She leapt, sword swinging, and cut apart the next volley in midair.

She isn't an ordinary girl, Shido thought, dazed.

She landed and glanced back at him, and for a moment her face wasn't the face of someone fighting. It was sad.

If she's that strong, why does she look like that?

The armored shapes did not stop. Missile after missile came at her, and she knocked them out of the air one by one. A cross-cut released another shockwave, and the armored girls scattered to avoid it. One of them dropped behind her and leveled a laser at point-blank range. The girl lifted her left hand, and the beam simply died against her palm. She turned and slashed. The attacker dodged, but not completely. One of her two wings tore away in a shower of sparks.

The armored girl unlatched the flight unit from her back and vaulted over Shido, landing a few paces from where he sat. He caught a glimpse of her face.

“To...Tobiichi? Is that you!?”

“Shido...it's you.”

“W-why are you wearing—”

The violet-haired girl's sword was already coming up again, and the air between the three of them drew tight.

Shido followed Reine through the narrow metallic corridor, still trying to sort through everything that had happened before he lost consciousness. The room he had awakened in had resembled a school infirmary, complete with white curtains and rows of simple beds, but the exposed wiring, unfamiliar equipment, and Reine's explanation had made one thing clear: he was nowhere near Raizen High School. According to her, the place was called Fraxinus, and there was someone aboard who could answer his questions better than she could.

Reine staggered along ahead of him with the same exhausted lack of balance she had shown in the medical office. Eventually she stopped before a large door with a small electronic panel beside it. A soft beep sounded, and the door slid open.

"It's here."

Shido stepped through after her and stopped almost immediately.

The chamber beyond looked like the command bridge of a warship. The upper floor spread outward in a broad semicircle, with a large captain's chair positioned near the center, while gently sloping stairs descended to a lower level packed with crew members and complicated consoles. The room itself was dim, illuminated mostly by the monitors scattered throughout it, giving the entire place the atmosphere of something Shido would have expected to see in a science-fiction movie rather than somewhere above Tenguu City.

"...What is this place?"

Reine continued inside as though there were nothing remarkable about it.

"I brought him."

A tall young man standing beside the captain's chair turned toward them. He had wavy hair, refined features, and an almost excessively polite manner as he bowed toward Shido.

"Hello. I'm Vice Commander Kannazuki Kyouhei. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Shido awkwardly returned the gesture.

"Uh... yeah. Nice to meet you."

For a moment, Shido assumed Kannazuki was the person Reine had brought him to see. Instead, Kannazuki straightened and turned toward the captain's chair, which was facing away from them.

"Commander. Analysis Officer Murasame has returned."

A small groan came from the chair.

Then it slowly rotated.

Shido stared.

Sitting there was a young girl wearing a crimson military-style uniform over her shoulders. Her long hair was tied into twin tails with two large black ribbons, and a Chupa Chups rested casually in her mouth. Her small frame and round eyes were painfully familiar, but the calm authority in her posture was nothing like the little sister Shido had eaten breakfast with that morning.

"Welcome. Welcome to Ratatoskr."

Shido's face went blank.

"...Kotori?"

There was no reasonable alternative. The ribbons were different, the uniform was completely absurd, and even the way she carried herself had changed, but that was unmistakably Itsuka Kotori.

Kotori looked down at him from the command chair without the slightest embarrassment.

"What? Did you forget your own little sister's face, Shido?"

Shido's confusion immediately gave way to relief.

"Kotori! You were safe?"

Kotori raised an eyebrow.

"You ran into a spacequake area and got yourself knocked unconscious, and you're asking whether I'm safe?"

Shido hesitated. Hearing his sister speak to him without calling him Onii-chan was almost as unsettling as seeing her seated in command of what appeared to be a military airship. He pinched his cheek once, confirmed that it hurt, and slowly rubbed the back of his head.

"Okay... I'm completely lost. Where are we? Who are all these people? What happened to that girl? Why was Origami flying around in some kind of mechanical armor? And why are you apparently their commander?"

Kotori held up one hand before he could continue.

"Calm down. Ask everything at once and I can't answer anything properly."

She motioned toward the large displays around the bridge. Images appeared across them, showing the black-haired girl Shido had encountered earlier and the armored women who had attacked her.

"The girl you met is what we call a Spirit."

Shido looked toward the screen. Even seeing her only as an image brought back the expression she had worn when she asked whether he had come to kill her.

"...A Spirit?"

"And the people fighting her belong to the AST—the Anti-Spirit Team."

Shido's attention shifted immediately to one of the figures.

"Origami..."

So he had not imagined that either.

Before he could ask anything else, another thought struck him. Shido quickly pulled out his phone and checked the screen, remembering exactly why he had ignored the evacuation order in the first place.

"Wait a second. Kotori, what happened to the restaurant? Your GPS showed you standing right in front of it!"

Kotori stared at him for a moment before understanding dawned on her face.

"...So that's why you went running outside during a spacequake warning."

"What else was I supposed to think? We promised to meet there!"

"How stupid do you think I am?"

Shido opened his mouth, then stopped himself.

Kotori narrowed her eyes.

"You were about to answer that."

"No."

"You absolutely were."

Shido quickly looked away.

Kotori sighed and leaned back into the command chair.

"Anyway, your misunderstanding is simple. We're technically in front of the restaurant right now."

Shido slowly looked back at her.

"...What?"

Kotori glanced toward the crew.

"Remove the filter."

The bridge changed instantly.

The darkness surrounding the command deck seemed to disappear, replaced by brilliant blue sky. Clouds stretched far below them, and through the open view Shido could barely make out the city beneath. For several seconds he could do nothing except stare at the impossible sight surrounding the ship.

"Wh-What the hell...?"

"The outside view."

Shido turned toward Kotori.

"Outside?"

"We're about fifteen thousand meters above Tenguu City."

His expression froze.

Kotori crossed her arms with obvious satisfaction.

"And by coincidence, we're positioned roughly above the restaurant where we were supposed to meet."

Shido looked from the sky to Kotori, then around the enormous bridge again.

"So this place is..."

"Fraxinus."

Kotori gave him a small, proud smile.

"An airship."

Shido stared at her.

Then at Kannazuki.

Then at Reine, who looked as though she might fall asleep standing up.

Then back at Kotori.

"...What kind of secret life have you been living?"

Kotori ignored the question and gestured toward the screen displaying the AST.

"Back to the explanation. Their job is simple. When a Spirit appears, the AST responds."

Shido's expression became more serious.

"Responds how?"

"They eliminate the Spirit."

The casual way Kotori said it made Shido's stomach tighten.

"...Eliminate?"

"Kill them."

Shido looked back toward the black-haired girl.

The answer suddenly gave new meaning to what she had said before. The resignation in her voice, the hostility she had shown toward anyone who approached her, even that lonely expression—it all fit together far too easily.

"But the spacequake wasn't something she deliberately caused, right?"

"As far as we know, the initial spacequake isn't necessarily caused by the Spirit's intentions."

"Then why kill her?"

Kotori rested her chin against one hand.

"Because intent doesn't make them harmless. Spirits possess enough power to cause enormous destruction simply by appearing, and battles involving them can make that damage even worse. From humanity's perspective, removing that danger is the straightforward solution."

Shido frowned. He understood what Kotori was saying, but the image in his mind refused to disappear.

"Someone who just wanted to destroy things wouldn't have looked like that."

Kotori watched him carefully.

"You met her for a few minutes, she nearly killed you, and you're already defending her?"

"I'm not saying she's harmless."

"Then what are you saying?"

Shido fell silent. He had no plan and no argument strong enough to erase the danger Kotori had described. All he had was the memory of the girl standing alone in the ruins, expecting every person who approached her to be another enemy.

Finally, he answered.

"...That somebody should actually talk to her first."

The bridge became quiet.

Shido kept his eyes on the Spirit displayed across the monitor.

"If nobody has ever tried talking to her, then how can anyone know what she actually wants?"

For a moment, Kotori said nothing.

Then the corner of her mouth lifted.

It was the expression of someone who had just heard exactly what she had been waiting for.

"I see."

Shido glanced toward her.

"What?"

Kotori spread her arms slightly, indicating the bridge around them—the crew at their stations, Kannazuki beside her, Reine nearby, and Fraxinus itself surrounding all of them.

"Then we'll help you."

Shido blinked.

"...Huh?"

"That is what Ratatoskr is here for."

Kotori settled back into the command chair, looking directly at her brother.

"If the AST's answer to a Spirit is to destroy her, then ours is different."

Shido waited.

Kotori smiled.

"We're going to make contact with her."

Only the girls had home economics that day.

Practical lessons at Raizen were divided into small groups for the sake of a well-rounded education. Today, the girls had been assigned home economics. Shido had yet to see what Tohka had made.

Then the door banged open, and Tohka came in at a near run, night-dark hair streaming behind her, eyes shining as if she had personally discovered fire. She skidded to a stop in front of his desk and pushed a plastic container toward him with both hands.

“Shido! Look! I made cookies!”

“To-Tohka...”

“Umu? What is it?”

She was smiling the kind of smile that could make flowers bloom, and every protest Shido had lined up died on his tongue. She pulled off the lid. Inside sat a pile of lumpy, uneven shapes, scorched at the edges and blackened in places, that could only generously be called cookies.

“I had everyone teach me! Try one!”

Beside him, Tonomachi had gone hollow-eyed, slumped over his own desk and muttering a prayer for Shido's early death. He was not alone. All around the room, boys were watching with open resentment, and Shido could hardly blame them. Since transferring in, Tohka had rocketed up the unofficial ranking of girls most wanted as a girlfriend, and now she was personally serving her baking to the one boy who had no business enjoying it.

“...Shido? You're not going to eat it?” Her shoulders began to sink, a little at a time. “Ugh... it's because you're good at cooking, isn't it?”

“No! It's not that! I'll eat it!”

He steeled himself and picked one up. It was heavier than it looked. He raised it slowly toward his mouth with the grim composure of a man mounting a scaffold, and just as it reached his lips, something silver flashed across the edge of his vision.

The cookie exploded into crumbs in his fingers. Whatever had done it kept going, crossed the room, and buried itself in the wall with a low, ringing hum.

A fork. A plain cafeteria fork.

“Wha—who threw that!? That's dangerous!” Tohka spun toward the hallway, and Shido's head turned with hers.

Origami stood in the doorway with her right arm still extended, as expressionless as a doll, skin pale and hair brushing her shoulders. Her left hand held a container of her own.

“T-Tobiichi?”

“Nu.”

Tohka's eyebrows drew together. Origami walked into the room without hurry, stopped in front of Shido's desk, and lifted the lid of her container. Inside, perfect cookies sat in perfect rows, identical in size and shape, like something off a factory line.

“There is no need to put Yatogami Tohka's cookies in your mouth. If you intend to eat something, eat these.”

“Don't interfere! Shido is eating mine!”

“The one interfering is you. It does not matter who arrived first. I cannot allow him to ingest yours. You did not wash your hands sufficiently, and while the flour was rising you choked and sneezed three times. This is unhygienic.”

Tohka's eyes swirled as though she had been dropped into a void. Behind her, the boys in the room had gone suddenly, noisily interested in the cookies.

“Shido is strong! That's fine for him!”

“You misjudged the proportions and skipped parts of the recipe. By any standard, they cannot be called finished.”

“Why didn't you say so in class!?”

“It was not my duty to point it out. In any case, the odds that mine will satisfy him are clearly higher.”

“Shut up! There's no way anyone like you could bake anything good!”

Tohka snatched a cookie from Origami's container and shoved it into her mouth. The crunch carried across the room. For half a second her cheeks flushed like cherry blossoms and her expression melted into pure bliss, before she shook her head fiercely and scowled.

“It's—it's nothing special! Mine is more delicious!”

“That is highly unlikely. You should admit defeat.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”

“What?”

“C-calm down, both of you!”

Shido hurried between them, hands raised, saying “now, now” to nobody in particular. It was not the first time the air between these two had gone electric, and every time, he felt a little more like giving up.

“Nu... Shido,” said Tohka, turning on him. “Whose cookies do you want to eat?”

“Eh?”

Tohka's container came up on his left. Origami's came up on his right. Two pairs of eyes fixed on him, both sharp enough to pin an enemy to the wall, and a bead of sweat slid down his cheek. Whichever he picked, it felt as though the other would end him.

Shido looked from one container to the other. Whichever he chose, he had the distinct feeling he would be killed.