Realizing that things would get even more troubleso once the AST backup arrived, Mikoto grabbed Shido and pulled him out of the alley.
[Shido looks really depressed.]
Throughout the walk, Shido maintained an expression of loss, frustration, and despondency, as if his soul had been drained.
[But it can't be helped. After all, he's the kind of person who cares more about others than himself.]
First, he witnessed Tokisaki Kurumi's murder scene firsthand. Mikoto felt that if she hadn't realized Shido was in danger, her own reaction probably wouldn't have been much better than his. Even the massive craters caused by spacequake couldn't trigger human primal fear quite like that bloody, gory scene.
And after that, he watched his own little sister chop off Tokisaki Kurumi's head with her own hands. The whole process was like a factory assembly line—no guilt, no unease, not even a trace of accomplishnt for killing a Spirit. It was as natural as breathing.
Witnessing Kurumi murder people, only to be murdered in return... Mikoto felt it would actually be strange if Shido wasn't in this state.
"Mikoto, could you co here for a second?" After returning to the airship, Reine spoke to Mikoto.
"Yeah."
"Shin is emotionally very unstable. I'd like to ask you to comfort him a bit."
"...With Kotori there, shouldn't he be fine?"
Glancing at Kotori, who was currently talking to Shido, Mikoto felt that as his little sister, Kotori could definitely soothe his feelings.
Slap!
However, right as Mikoto thought that, she saw Kotori give Shido a hard slap across the face from a distance.
[I take that back. Leaving it to Kotori is definitely a bad idea.]
"As you can see, Kotori is too strong-willed. No, I should say, for Kotori, she has to be strong, or it won't work," Reine sighed and explained.
After all, becoming the Commander of Ratatoskr at a middle school age... if she didn't have that kind of tough personality, she would have been crushed by the pressure long ago. That slap just now probably wasn't ant to scold Shido, but rather to force him to be strong. It was Kotori's unique way of encouraging him.
"But I believe what Shin needs right now is gentle girl to comfort him. So, can I leave this to you, Mikoto?"
"Of course. After all, I want to do sothing for Shido too."
Although she internally wondered if it was appropriate for Reine to hand this job to a gender-bend transmigrator, it was sothing Mikoto herself wanted to do, so she nodded and agreed to Reine's request.
Returning ho, Shido lay on the sofa, staring blankly at the incandescent light on the ceiling.
The dates had been completely cut short by the sudden incident. Tohka, who was still waiting on the other side, was inford by Fraxinus staff and should have already returned to the Spirit Apartnt. As for Kotori, she was staying overnight on the airship for work. So right now, Shido was completely alone in the Itsuka house.
On the airship, after witnessing Kurumi's murder scene, Shido had even started doubting whether conquering Spirits was the right thing to do—which resulted in Kotori slapping him.
Tomorrow, Kurumi would co to school again. If so, there was only one thing Shido had to do—conquer Kurumi and seal her Spirit energy. That way, Kurumi wouldn't kill anyone anymore, and Mana wouldn't have to keep hunting her. This was the outco Shido wished for, and it was sothing only he could accomplish. However...
[It's so heavy...]
It felt like a massive stone was weighing down on his heart, leaving Shido feeling incredibly suffocated.
Just then, the sound of the front door opening echoed outside. Who is it? Shido wondered in confusion.
"Umm... excuse ..."
The one who pushed the door open and walked in was Mikoto. The girl cautiously peeked into the room, checking on Shido's condition with a worried expression.
"Yakumo-senpai?"
"Ehehe... I was worried about you, Shido, so I wanted to co check on you."
The girl smiled and sat down beside Shido.
"Aren't you going to keep lying down, Shido?" Mikoto asked. Judging by the indent on the sofa, Shido had been lying there the whole ti before she arrived.
"But..."
However, a girl had just occupied the other end of the single person sized sofa, aning there wasn't enough room for Shido to rest anymore.
"Hey... a lap pillow... is okay too, you know."
As if seeing through Shido's hesitation, Mikoto smiled shyly.
"But..."
"Honestly. When a girl says sothing like this, refusing is strictly prohibited."
Seeing Shido's conflicted look, Mikoto sighed, gently pulled Shido's arm, and guided him to rest his head on her lap.(TL:ughh....)
"Even boys are allowed to act a little spoiled every now and then."
Looking down at Shido on her lap, Mikoto tapped her lip with her finger and smiled with a playful blink.
Although it was incredibly embarrassing, lying on the young girl's soft thighs seed to alleviate the heavy feeling from before. In its place, the exhaustion built up over the entire day washed over him, completely erasing Shido's desire to get up. Feeling the girl's gentle scent, he quietly closed his eyes.
[He really seems exhausted.]
If it were the usual Shido, he probably would have jumped up with a bright red face by now. Looking at the boy radiating a heavy aura, Mikoto sighed inwardly.
"Say... do you want to save Kurumi, Shido?" Mikoto asked while gently stroking Shido's forehead.
Before coming here, she had already learned from Reine about Kurumi possessing so sort of resurrection ability. In other words, Shido's conquest of Kurumi was not over yet.
"Yeah. If I don't want Kurumi to keep killing people, and I don't want Mana to keep hunting Kurumi, then I have to save her."
"That's not what I'm asking."
Mikoto sighed as she looked at Shido's heavy expression. Yes, everything Shido said was correct. But the crucial difference was that there was no subjective will in the boy's tone.
It was entirely different from when he saved her, or when he saved Yoshino. Back then, Shido's sheer determination to save the Spirits was clearly conveyed to everyone. But the current Shido felt completely like—"Because I'm the only one who can do it, I have no choice but to do it."
"I'm asking, do you personally want to save Kurumi, Shido?"
"I don't know... Honestly, I don't know. Unlike you, Senpai, or Tohka, or Yoshino, Kurumi is killing people of her own free will."
Even if they were natural disasters, even if they caused spacequakes, Spirits were like Mikoto—beings who didn't want to hurt anyone. That was what Shido used to believe. However, Kurumi's appearance completely shattered that idea.
"She isn't any different. Whether it's Kurumi, or , or even Tohka and Yoshino." Mikoto shook her head.
"Even if it wasn't my intention, I have definitely killed soone and destroyed many, many beautiful things."
Mikoto shook her head. According to the data on Fraxinus, the spacequake she could cause as a Spirit were at a terrifying AA-rank—a level where hollowing out an entire city center wouldn't be surprising.
Therefore, Mikoto never firmly believed she was innocent. And she feared... the sa applied to Tohka and Yoshino.
"If we're talking about hurting people, Kurumi is no different from us. So, Shido, do you really think a Kurumi like that can't—just like us, with your help,return to a life where she doesn't have to hurt anyone, and won't be hurt by anyone?" Mikoto asked.
[!!!]
In an instant, Shido's eyes widened.
Why had he forgotten? The reason Itsuka Shido wanted to save Spirits was because he didn't want to see their faces filled with despair. Whether it was Mikoto, Tohka, or Yoshino, Shido knew full well that they had hurt people and destroyed cities with spacequake. Yet even so, he chose to save them, even willing to risk his own life to do so.
The sa applied to Kurumi. Even if she committed murder by her own will, Shido believed that the cycle of killing and being killed was just another form of despair for Kurumi. That's why Shido wanted to save her. He wanted to use his own power to bring Kurumi back to a world where she didn't need to kill, and didn't need to be killed.
"Thank you, Senpai. I really do want to save Kurumi after all."
The drive to save a Spirit scattered the heaviness weighing down his body. Shido opened his eyes and saw Mikoto's gentle smile.
"Awawa! S-Sorry!"
Having regained his spirit, he suddenly realized he was lying on the girl's lap and jumped up in a panic.
"Oh my, you could have stayed spoiled a little longer, you know?" Mikoto blinked and said playfully.
"Ahaha..."
As a result, Shido's face turned bright red, and he gave a dry laugh as he scratched his cheek.
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