"Yutsuki-nee!, calm down. This is not the ti to go head-on against Miku."
"…I know."
Kotori's panicked voice rang out, and Yutsuki had no choice but to take a deep breath and force herself to calm down.
Indeed, if they fought Miku here, not only would this date end in failure, but if things got serious, it might even attract AST.
Besides, fighting a Spirit with only a partial Astral Dress against one with full spiritual power was clearly not a wise move.
"…I never intended to fight in the first place. Besides, wasn't the one who moved first you?"
The lightning gradually faded, and the Angel and the Astreal Dress on Yutsuki's body dispersed into particles of light in the air. She waved her hand, indicating that she had no intention of fighting.
"Oh my, what a rude thing to say. If I had known Yutsuki-san was a Spirit, I certainly would not have done that."
As if she had understood Yutsuki's intent, Miku gave a light laugh and also released the Astral Dress on her body.
Then Miku turned her gaze toward Shido.
"And then, Shiori-san, who brought a Spirit like Yutsuki with you to et . It seems you did not listen to my 'wish' either. You are a Spirit too, aren't you?"
Miku's smile grew even brighter.
"To be honest, if that were really the case, I'd be very happy. After all, I've never encountered any Spirit other than myself… and if you were one of those so called Wizard, I believe Yutsuki-san wouldn't be standing by your side either."
She let out a soft breath and continued.
"So, was our eting just a coincidence? Or do you have so kind of purpose?"
"T-That…"
"What should we do, Commander?"
Inside Fraxinus's command room in the sky ship, everyone anxiously waited for Kotori to make her decision.
"Miku's getting impatient. If we keep pretending not to understand here, we might end up throwing away all the progress we've made…" Kotori hesitated for a mont, then bit down on the Chupa Chups in her mouth and said, "No choice. Though it's a gamble, we'll go straight to negotiation."
Shido swallowed nervously and faced Miku.
Then, after gathering his resolve, he spoke.
"…Miku. I'm not a Spirit. Nor a Wizard. I'm human."
After Shido finished, Miku let out a soft sigh and wore a disappointed expression.
"That's a pity—. Why would Shiori-san tell such a lie—"
"—But I do have the power to seal Spirit spiritual power."
As if to cover over Miku's words, Shido spoke in a calm voice.
Miku opened her eyes, which had been closed, and looked into Shido's eyes again.
"To seal spiritual power? What does that an?"
"That is…"
Shido began explaining little by little.
That he possessed the ability to seal spiritual power, and that if he used this ability to seal a Spirit's powers, the Spirit would not beco a target of AST and could live peacefully in this world.
After explaining to a certain point, Shido looked Miku straight in the eye and said:
"If… if you're willing to believe what I'm saying, Miku, then I—want to save you."
Miku said nothing in response, remaining silent as she listened to Shido. Like soone thinking deeply, she narrowed her eyes and placed a finger near her mouth.
Yutsuki, as if in agreent, also stayed silent. In the reception room, the ticking of the clock and the sound of their heartbeats suddenly beca unusually clear.
"I understand. I believe you."
"R-Really?"
Shido could not help but widen his eyes.
Honestly, this was such an absurd thing to hear that he had assud even a Spirit would not easily believe it.
"That reaction… it's like you think I wouldn't believe Shiori-san's words." Miku gave a bitter smile and turned toward Yutsuki. "It is indeed a pretty absurd statent. But the mont Yutsuki-san appeared, Shiori-san's story beca much more credible."
Yutsuki did not deny it. She shrugged and snorted lightly.
"Indeed. Including , my adorable Shiori-chan has already successfully sealed six Spirits. What a sinful girl~"
At Yutsuki's slightly jealous remark, Shido could only laugh and cry at the sa ti.
"Wah~ that's incredible... So there are that many Spirits living over there, huh? I'd love to visit them soday~"
"If you wanted to, I'm sure they wouldn't mind either. But…"
Yutsuki looked at Miku with a deeply aningful expression.
"Even if you were willing to be sealed, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but from where I stand, you don't seem to have any intention of being sealed."
"…Eh?"
Shido let out a bewildered sound, as if he could not understand Yutsuki at all.
"Indeed, as Yutsuki-san said." Miku laughed softly, her deanor leisurely as her petal-like lips moved. "After all, think about it. Even when I have spiritual power now, I am currently living a very happy life—. So I have no intention of giving away my power at all. I would very much like to keep being friends with you, but that is a completely separate matter."
"T-That…"
Shido could not refute her, because that was indeed true.
Shido's goal—and Ratatoskr's goal as well—was to seal the Spirit so that the Spirit could live a peaceful life. But this 'Diva' Izayoi Miku, had already been living in this world for more than half a year even without Ratatoskr's help.
"…Hey, Shiori, don't just start wavering so easily."
Yutsuki had originally intended to tap Shido on the head, but since he was in Shiori's outfit, she only poked his cheek in irritation.
"Yutsuki-nee is absolutely right. She had caused a spacequake only a few days ago, and Miku's identity has already been discovered by Tobiichi Origami. She'll eventually be placed under surveillance. If we leave her alone, before long Miku and the world around her will fall into misfortune.Can't you even understand such a simple problem, you cockroach-brained sewer rat?"
After Kotori's harsh tongue-lash, Shido clenched his fists slightly.
"Miku, you triggered a spacequake four days ago in front of Tatsunami Station, right? Doesn't that an you can't completely control your own power?"
After Shido said that, Miku wore a very surprised expression.
"Oh my—? You even know that so clearly—"
"Huh? Ah…"
"Well… we have our own thods of finding out about that."
Yutsuki let out a soft sigh, brushing aside Miku's question, and then looked straight into Miku's eyes.
"Just as Shiori said, if you want to live normally in this world and don't want your friends or fans to get hurt, then if you don't have a way to suppress spacequakes, it would be better to seal your spiritual power. That is advice from soone with experience."
However, Miku let out a soft breath and shook her head.
"I'm very happy that you're worried about , but it's useless."
"T-Then why is that?"
At Shido's question, Miku answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Because—that spacequake was caused by my own will."
For a mont, Shido widened his eyes in bewildernt, unable to understand what Miku was saying.
Indeed, there were Spirits who could trigger spacequakes by their own conscious will. So the possibility that 'Diva' could control spacequakes was not necessarily zero.
"Hoh~ That's pretty amazing. Back then I tried to control mine, but I just couldn't suppress it no matter what. Is there so trick you could teach ?"
For so reason, Yutsuki did not seem surprised. She narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke in a tone that sounded almost like she was asking for advice.
"Hm? Yutsuki-san can't do it? How strange—could it be because there's so difference in personality?" Miku rested her cheek on her hand and tilted her head adorably. "At the ti, all I did was think in my head, 'Bong—!' and then it naturally beca usable."
Miku suddenly spread her hands forward, as if imitating the mont fireworks bloom, and described that disaster so serious just a few days ago in such a lightly offhand way.
"W-Why… would you do that?"
Even though Shido understood Miku's explanation, he still could not help asking.
Miku twirled her hair and explained:
"Didn't I say it when I first t Shiori-san—? I like the feeling of standing on stage."
"Yes…"
Shido nodded. When he first t Miku as Shiori, she had indeed said that.
"By chance, when I passed by Tatsunami Station, a certain band happened to be holding a concert at the Tengu Grand Theater—. And then I realized sothing. You know, I've sung on a huge stage in Tengu City before—"
"…Eh?"
"And then you suddenly wanted to sing on top of it… and tried to go 'Bong—!' there, right?"
"Ara ara~~ As expected of soone who's also a Spirit like , you understand quite well."
"Hmph… sorry, but personally, I don't think so at all."
Yutsuki returned Miku's smile with an extrely cold gaze.
"…Just because of sothing like that."
Shido's face twisted as if he had seen sothing impossible, and his throat trembled.
"Just because of sothing like that? Don't you think that way of saying it is a little harsh—"
"That's because… there were so many people around there, weren't there…? If soone hadn't escaped in ti—"
"Well, there was nothing I could do about that—. Because, you see, I really wanted to sing at that ti…"
There was not the slightest trace of guilt on Miku's face.
To be more precise, it seed she did not even recognize what she had done as a bad thing.
"…You don't think anything of it? Causing a spacequake… doing sothing like that…"
"That's enough… Shiori. No matter what you say, it's useless."
"Yutsuki?"
Yutsuki lightly tapped Shidou's shoulder, shook her head, and looked at Miku's gentle smile before speaking calmly.
"To her, humans are nothing more than toys. And we ourselves are just a little more special and rare than ordinary dolls."
An existence beyond human common sense—Spirits—could already be considered the strongest beings in the food chain of this world.
When Yutsuki still possessed Spirit power, she realized that overusing that power would only gradually distort one's values. So Yutsuki had always been consciously recalling the way of life she once had as a human in her previous life, striving to live as a "human."
But Izayoi Miku was the exact opposite. Because of the abuse of her power, she had gradually lost herself and beco distorted.
To her, humans were just a group of interesting toys.
In a sense, perhaps Izayoi Miku was the Spirit whose way of thinking fit the title 'Spirit' most perfectly of all.
"Ara ara~~ That's a very harsh way of saying it, Yutsuki-san. I would never think that way—"
"Is that so… Then let ask you this. If the girls who left school with you earlier had been caught in your spacequake that day, how would you feel?"
At Yutsuki's question, which sounded almost like a reporter's interview, Miku frowned in annoyance.
"Mm… that would be troubleso. I'd have to go find other girls I like."
That sentence alone was enough to prove that Yutsuki's guess was correct.
Shido could hardly believe his ears.
Kurumi, who had personally taken many lives by her own will, was certainly a terrifying existence. Her malice and killing intent constantly stimulated Shido's nerves.
But Miku's values, view of life and death, and all the other concepts she held were completely different from Shido's.
While Shido was still shocked, Yutsuki's questioning continued.
"Then what do you think about the girls died because of the spacequake?"
"Mm… if that girl died, I'd definitely be sad. But you see, that girl likes so much—dying for would be her wish, wouldn't it?"
"You're that confident that she likes you to that degree?"
"Of course~. Not just one of them, either? Everyone likes very much. No matter what I say, everyone will obediently listen to —"
"That's enough!!!!"
As if to cut through the noise, Shido shouted with all the force he could muster.
"Shido!Calm down! Don't lose your temper!"
Even though Kotori's attempt to stop him rang in his ear, at this point Shido himself could no longer stop himself.
Slowly raising his head, Shido looked at Miku and said in a voice that even he felt was trembling:
"Izayoi Miku, I really, really hate you—"
"…Oh?"
Miku's brow twitched.
"Arrogant and rude, disgusting. Everyone likes you? Hah!"
Shido raised his right hand and pointed at Miku.
"If the whole world is going to approve of you, then I'll reject you by a factor of tens of thousands more—reject your actions, reject you as a person!"
For a few seconds, Miku's face showed surprise, but in the end she cald down and narrowed her eyes.
"Oh… you hate , do you—? What about you, Yutsuki-san?"
Kotori's request for her to fill in the gap rang in her ear, and Yutsuki softly smiled before answering:
"I'm really happy… that my thoughts align perfectly with Shiori's."
At that mont, a twisted smile appeared on Miku's face.
"Hmph hmph~,after you say it like that, I actually want you even more now. I want Shiori-san and Yutsuki-san to kneel at my feet, crying through your runny noses while shouting, 'I love you the most!' Hehehe—"
"You think that's possible?"
With a soft laugh, Yutsuki stepped in front of Shiori. Electric currents began to flicker through her bangs.
"Well… if we fight here, that would be very troubleso for soone who lives here. Ah, right—"
Suddenly, Miku clapped her hands as if she had thought of sothing brilliant.
"In that case… let's have a contest!"
"…A contest?"
"Exactly! If you win, I'll seal my spiritual power according to Shiori-san's request. But if you lose…"
A pure and innocent smile spread across Miku's face as she continued:
"Then Shiori-san, together with the six sealed Spirits including Yutsuki-san, will beco mine!"
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