Miku knew that singer.
Of course she did.
After all… there was no way she could forget her own voice.
But more than the fact that Shido was listening to her song, what made her feel ashad were the words she had said just monts ago.
[Listening to music? Who's your favorite idol? If you give up on Mikoto-san, I can use my voice to command that idol to love only you.]
[Doesn't that an I'd have to make myself fall in love with this man?] (TL: heh~)
Thinking that, she blushed and shouted at Shido.
"You… you did that on purpose, didn't you? You made say sothing like that on purpose, and then the song you were playing was… was… my song."
"Don't ask the impossible. How could I have known what you were going to say?"
Shido replied with a helpless expression.
"T-Then why are you listening to my song of all things… and… and it's even a song sung by the old ''…"
Miku asked, sounding frustrated.
"If you ask why…"
Shido scratched his cheek awkwardly, then said,
"Because… when I listen to this kind of song… I feel like courage rises up in my heart." (TL: my brother Shido!!!!!)
[!!!]
Hearing Shido's words, Miku felt like she could not breathe.
She had never thought that there would still be soone who liked the song sung by her as Tsukino Yoimachi, a song with no spirit energy and no charm power at all.
And yet, right in front of her, Shido had accepted that version of her.
That voice.
"If… if my spirit energy really gets sealed, and I can only sing songs like this, would Shido still be willing to be my fan? If I also went through sothing like Mikoto-san, would Shido risk his life to save ?"
Miku asked quietly.
"Of course! I'll definitely be your fan! And I'll definitely risk my life to protect you! The Miku who sang so desperately even without any spirit energy—I think she's truly amazing! So… so…"
Shido stood up and spoke seriously.
"No!"
Even so, Miku still refused.
"I… can't believe in humans. I can't believe in the people who once abandoned ."
"Miku!"
He tried to reach out and stop Miku, but she had already left the room and shut the door behind her.
Shido moved to follow her. The instant his hand touched the doorknob, Miku's voice sounded from the other side of the door.
"So… so if you want to believe you, then please risk your life and save Mikoto-san."
Miku leaned against the door and said softly,
"I'll follow you… and witness everything you do. Whether the result is a tragedy or a happy ending, please don't… make lose faith in humans again."
"Yeah… I promise you!"
On the other side of the door, Shido nodded firmly.
anwhile, far away on Fraxinus, Reine and Shiizaki were operating all kinds of equipnt, trying to locate Mikoto.
"No good. There are no clues at all."
Shiizaki let out a tired sigh.
Because of Miku, Tengu City had fallen into chaos. Under these conditions, searching everywhere using only invisible caras was no different from looking for a needle in the ocean.
"Co to think of it, the person who first inford us about DEM's plan was Tobiichi Origami from AST. Mana, can you contact her?"
Reine spoke into the communicator.
After a short while, Mana's voice ca from the bridge speakers.
"No problem. Kotori and the others have just finished being cleansed. I'll contact her right away."
Since she had once worked in AST, Mana had contact information for most of its mbers.
Of course, that included Origami.
So she took out her phone and called Origami's number.
[Hello? Mana? Are you all right? I heard you were taken from the hospital. Where are you now?]
The mont the call connected, Mana received a string of questions.
But thinking about it carefully, no one knew that she had been taken from the hospital by Ratatoskr. From AST's point of view, Mana had been kidnapped by unknown people. It was natural for Origami to worry.
"Um… please calm down. I'm all right now. Tobiichi-san, do you know where Jessica and the others are?"
Mana asked.
[Jessica… aren't they at DEM's Japan branch? Why does Mana want to know where Jessica is? Don't tell … Mikoto really was captured?]
A large-scale riot had broken out at the Tengu Festival venue. Even the police who went to suppress it had joined in. Although spirit wave reactions had been detected, the situation was too special, and the venue was packed with ordinary people. At the mont, AST had been ordered to stand by inside the base.
But more than that, what worried Origami was this:
Since the afternoon—or more precisely, since Jessica and the others had left AST and returned to DEM Japan—Mikoto's phone had stopped connecting.
Now that Mana was calling to ask about Jessica's whereabouts, it was hard for Origami not to connect it to Mikoto.
"Um… that is correct. But please don't worry, Tobiichi-san. I will definitely save her."
Considering that Origami had once helped Ratatoskr, Mana did not hide what had happened to Mikoto.
She hung up and turned to run toward the bridge.
_______________
After Mana hung up, Origami frowned slightly.
Mikoto had been captured.
Although she had considered this possibility, she had not expected it to beco reality.
Origami looked at her colleagues waiting inside the base, and an indescribable restlessness welled up in her heart.
She turned and walked out of the hall, heading quickly toward the corridor that led outside.
"O-Origami-senpai?"
A familiar voice reached her ears.
She turned back and saw a short girl with twin braids—her junior in AST, Okamine Mikie.
"What is it, Mikie?"
Origami smiled and asked, looking at her flustered junior.
"Where are you going, Origami-senpai? That way leads outside the base."
Mikie asked.
There was a certain resolve in Origami's smile that made the younger girl feel uneasy.
"Yes. I am going outside the base. Or rather, to DEM Japan."
Origami nodded.
She had wanted to hide it, but walking down this path had no other aning except wanting to leave the base.
"You can't! If you do that, it'll be considered disobeying orders!"
Mikie stood in front of Origami and said seriously.
"Even so, Mikie… I… still have to go."
Looking at the junior who wanted to stop her, Origami showed hesitation for a single mont.
But right after that, she looked at Mikie with a firm gaze.
She could not destroy evil Spirits like Kurumi.
She could not save kind Spirits like Mikoto.
She could not stop Jessica's plot.
Even now, with Tengu City in chaos, all she could do was sit in the base hall like an ordinary person and watch the news.
She had wanted to beco a Wizard so that no one else would suffer from Spirits the way the boy who had saved her parents five years ago had suffered.
[And yet… I still can't do anything!]
The girl cried out in her heart.
She wanted power.
Power strong enough to change all of this.
Power that would let her punish evil Spirits, protect kind Spirits, and protect humans.
Even if she did not have that power, at the very least…
"I cannot forgive myself for being unable to do anything like this!"
She had to do sothing.
That was what she thought.
(TL:new tiline origami will always be my goat)
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