October 14th, around 3:00 to 4:00 PM.
Yutsuki, who had just finished school and was getting ready to go ho, suddenly got a call from Kotori. Kotori told her to co to Fraxinus with Shido to keep Miku company.
At first, Yutsuki thought sothing had happened to Miku. But Kotori explained that she just wanted to ask Miku a few questions. However, Miku was throwing a tantrum like a child, insisting that Shido and Yutsuki had to be there with her, or else she wouldn't cooperate.
"Haha, that really sounds like sothing Miku would do."
Hearing Kotori's words, Yutsuki couldn't help but shake her head and smile bitterly.
[And since we have this chance, I also want to confirm a few things with you, Yutsuki-nee. Is that okay?]
"No problem, I'll head over right now."
Hearing Kotori's voice on the other end, Yutsuki nodded in understanding.
After teleporting into the airship, Reine led Yutsuki to a room she had never been in before.
"Hehehe, hey, Darling~~ You can co a little closer~~ Hurry~~"
"No... listen to , Miku."
"What is it? Oh, right. I found a really good Italian restaurant recently~~ Are you free tonight? If you are, let's go eat together after Honey gets here~~"
"Ah, I can't. I have to make dinner for Tohka and the others..."
"So what~~ Just invite Tohka and the others to co along~~ I'm not a petty woman~~ I'll pay for everyone, don't worry."
"No, I already told you, Miku..."
As soon as she walked through the door, Yutsuki saw Miku generating a blinding flash of romance that could deal massive critical damage to any single person.
She sure that if Miku's fans saw this, they would drop to their knees and cry in pain.
"Honey~ You made wait so long—"
Seeing Yutsuki walk in, Miku, who was clinging to Shido like a koala, instantly smiled even brighter with happiness.
"Yeah, sorry it took a little while to get here."
Yutsuki replied to Miku's greeting. After walking into the room, she took a look at the situation.
Miku was pressing closely against Shido, acting spoiled. Shido's face was as red as a tomato because Miku's chest was pressed tightly against his arm. Sitting right across from them was Kotori. Her long hair was tied into twin tails with black ribbons. She had her arms crossed, angrily biting down on a lollipop, completely in her Commander mode.
Able to guess how things had turned out this way, Yutsuki couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth curl up in a smile.
"Do you have sothing to say, Yutsuki-nee?"
"Nothing at all~"
Feeling Kotori's glare, Yutsuki turned her head and answered in a relaxed tone.
"Honey, co sit here~"
At Miku's waving hand, Yutsuki sat down in an empty seat next to her.
Sitting beside Miku, Yutsuki looked around. It was a dim room where the lights seed to be purposely turned down low. There were rows of long tables around them. Yutsuki, Shido, and Miku were sitting right in the center. The setup felt like a tense interview room, or maybe a courtroom... Seeing this, Yutsuki could sowhat understand why Miku didn't want to face it alone.
"Hehehe! Honey captured successfully~"
Just like that, Miku reached out her free hand and pulled Yutsuki into her embrace. Expecting this, Yutsuki sighed and didn't fight back.
Well, since Miku's other hand was busy with Shido on the other side, Yutsuki didn't feel like she was losing out anyway.
"Hugging Darling with my right hand, holding Honey in my left. Ah~ Have I reached heaven?"
Miku didn't act at all like an older student who was a year ahead of Yutsuki and Shido. She was innocent and loved to act spoiled just like a child. Seeing Miku's smile, which looked so happy it might lt, Yutsuki and Shido looked at each other and both smiled helplessly.
"Ah—Since Yutsuki-nee is here now, we should get straight to the point."
"Eh? We don't get pork cutlet bowls?"
Yutsuki asked, feeling slightly disappointed.
"Yutsuki-nee, this is a questioning, not an interrogation."
Kotori sighed deeply and opened the file next to her hand.
"...Then, I will start asking questions. First is Miku."
"Okay, okay. Please go ahead."
Miku answered in a very relaxed voice. Kotori sighed again and said:
"Although I have a lot of questions about your abilities and your Angel... we can save those for later. The first thing we need to confirm is──"
Kotori raised her finger and pointed at Miku.
"The being that turned you into a Spirit."
"...!"
The mont Kotori said that, Yutsuki clearly felt Miku's body stiffen.
"You were human originally, not a natural Spirit──That's right, isn't it?"
"..."
Hearing Kotori's words, Miku frowned slightly and showed a pained look on her face. Maybe it was just in her head, but Miku's breathing seed to speed up.
"Miku, are you okay? If this is too hard for you, we can take a break before──"
"If you don't want to talk about it, we won't force you."
"...No, it's fine~~"
After Shido and Yutsuki checked on her, Miku quickly shook her head.
"I have Darling and Honey by my side. I've already decided to bravely accept everything from my past and move forward."
Then, Miku slowly told Kotori about her past. A year ago, when she was betrayed by her fans and was feeling completely heartbroken and hopeless, a "God" appeared in front of her. This "God" gave her a purple crystal gem, and after that, she gained the Spirit power to charm people's hearts.
"Kotori, this is..."
"Yeah... It looks like there's no mistake."
Hearing Miku's story, Shido and Kotori's faces both turned serious at the sa ti.
The being Miku called "God" was exactly the culprit who had turned Kotori into a Spirit five years ago—Phantom.
Listening to Miku's story, Kotori frowned slightly. The details Miku had weren't much different from what they already knew. It was as if this being's entire existence was covered in a blurry mosaic. Whether it was their face, voice, body shape, or gender, Miku couldn't describe any of it. Just like the na suggested, it was a Spirit as unreal and full of mysteries as a phantom.
The only thing they learned was that, even though both were turned into Spirits by Phantom, Miku didn't seem to lose control when she summoned her Astral Dress, unlike Kotori. They didn't know if this difference was because their Spirit powers were different, or Phantom had just gotten better at it after the experience with Kotori.
Although she already had a good guess in her mind, finding out that she had hit another dead end made Kotori unwillingly clench her fists.
"Phew—Then, next is Yutsuki-nee."
After adjusting her mood, Kotori turned her eyes to Yutsuki.
"I heard from Shido that you also t Phantom before, right?"
"So it was about this."
Yutsuki wasn't surprised by Kotori's question.
When Kotori started asking Miku about Phantom, Yutsuki already guessed what Kotori wanted to ask her.
After all, when she told Shido she had seen Phantom, she never asked him to keep it a secret. It was totally normal for Shido to report it to Kotori.
If anything, Yutsuki thought Kotori took a bit too long to ask.
There was no need to hide it, so Yutsuki nodded.
"That's right. Actually, before I ca to Tengu City, I t Phantom."
Getting Yutsuki to admit it herself, Kotori took a deep breath.
"Then Yutsuki-nee, please tell us exactly what happened back then in detail. If possible, I'd like to know exactly what was said."
Seeing Kotori's face, which looked even more serious than when they were conquering Spirits, Yutsuki knew this was a very big deal to her. She didn't hide anything. She thought back to that day and explained everything to Kotori and the others as clearly as she could.
"Fought Kurumi to a draw..."
"DEM Company is keeping a Spirit locked up..."
Just hearing these two pieces of news made everyone take a sharp breath in.
"I see... so it was that ti."
Kotori touched her forehead in deep thought. She rembered that during their sumr school trip, a desert area in another country was suddenly blasted into scorched earth by a massive lightning strike. Although the Yamai sisters confird it was Yutsuki's doing, no one knew why she did it. But if it was a battle with Kurumi, then it made sense.
"Although there are a lot of things I want to ask about that, let's put it aside for now. So, after Kurumi left, Phantom appeared?"
Kotori asked.
"Saying she 'appeared' is a bit tricky. I should say she was hiding nearby and watching the whole ti."
Yutsuki smiled bitterly. Back then, she couldn't feel Phantom's presence at all. If it hadn't been for Kurumi, Yutsuki wouldn't have even known she was being followed.
"Then, Yutsuki-nee, do you know Phantom's true identity?"
"Unfortunately, I also tried to use Ratziel to scan their real identity, but that blurry mosaic seed to be a blocking wall made of super dense Spirit power, so I don't know either."
Yutsuki gently shook her head. Just as everyone was feeling a bit let down, Miku suddenly asked a question.
"Um... if Honey was born as a Spirit from the very start, then why did Phantom co looking for Honey?"
Hearing Miku's words, a small smile appeared on Yutsuki's face.
"About that, I actually asked Phantom the exact sa thing back then. And then, it gave a very interesting answer."
"Interesting?"
Nodding, Yutsuki closed her eyes to recall the mory, then repeated it in a serious voice.
"[One year ago, I sensed a Spirit Power emanating from you that was entirely different from the Sephira Crystals in my possession. Because of that, I began to observe you.]"
"Is there... sothing wrong with that sentence?"
Shido scratched his head, feeling a bit confused.
"The problem... is huge."
Seeming to realize what Yutsuki ant, Kotori's eyes widened, gritted her teeth in shock.
As if to clear up Miku and Shido's confusion, Kotori slowly explained.
"Up until now, the only Spirits we know for sure were created by Phantom are and Miku. But from Yutsuki-nee's story, Phantom actually sounded surprised and confused by Yutsuki, who is definitely a naturally born Spirit. It's as if Yutsuki-nee existing was completely outside of her expectations."
Hearing this, Shido finally understood.
In Yutsuki's mory, Phantom didn't say an unknown Spirit power appeared. She specifically said that Yutsuki's power didn't co from the Sephira Crystals she had.
What did this an?
Phantom's understanding of what a Spirit is was completely different from what Shido and the others thought.
"Maybe I am the only Spirit in the world who was born naturally, the way you guys think Spirits are born."
Yutsuki shrugged, looking a bit awkward as she shared her guess.
"Every other Spirit in this world, except for , was a human who was given a Sephira Crystal by Phantom and turned into a Spirit."
The mont they heard this, Miku, Shido, and Kotori all took a sharp breath at the sa ti.
"Tohka, Yoshino, and the Yamai... everyone was a human turned into a Spirit by Phantom?"
Shido felt his palms starting to sweat.
"The mories of Shido and eting Phantom were both sealed before... If we assu Phantom has the power to change mories, then we can't say this guess is impossible."
Kotori took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
"Yutsuki-nee... just to be safe, let ask one more ti. Your mory wasn't erased by Phantom, right?"
To this, Yutsuki nodded without any hesitation.
"I can be completely sure of that. I rember everything clearly since I ca to this world. The day I fought Kurumi was the first and only ti I saw Phantom. And I am absolutely not a Spirit created by Phantom."
Setting aside whether her mory could have been erased, Yutsuki would never believe that the plush doll that never listened and only talked to itself was the sa person as Phantom.
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