Vol 2 Chapter 3 (1/2)
Chapter 3: Excessively Distorted Compassion
Part 1
”Hey, Tohkaa~……”
While letting out a perplexed voice, shi+dou knock knock, knocked on the door
But…there was no response
”Tohka……I' you, hear me out on what I have to say”
Onceon the door
When he did that— Don! A loud sound occurred and the whole house shook
”…Uh!”
Due to the sudden noise, he twitched his shoulders in reflex
And, fro voice echoed
”……Fuun Don’t bother o to that side Idiot –Idiot”
And with that response the
”Haaaah…What am I supposed to do…?”
shi+dou was co his broith his fingers
shi+dou was currently in front of a door located in the deepest part of the 2nd floor in the Itsuka residence, there was the word [Tohka] scribbled on paper and pasted to the door
It had been 5 hours since [Yoshi+non] went back to the other world
After that, he was retrieved by <fraxinus>, and went back to his house, which was a good thing But, upon entering the house he found that Tohka had locked herself inside her room and refused to come out
”—shi+dou Got aI want to confirm”
Froht ear came Kotori’s voice
”Ah……? What now, this isn't the right time for that—”
”shi+dou, you really did kiss Yoshi+non properly, right?”
”……Uh, huh? What's this all of a sudden……?”
From the sudden question, shi+dou made a shrill voice
”Just answer, at that tiether That isn't a mistake, correct?”
”……Ah, yeaah……”
”Fumu……”
”S-So what's wrong with that? I' this first, that was completely an accident—”
”I know that Instead of that, I would even praise you for achieving the goal ere ai for”
”…Then what is it?”
When shi+dou asked, Kotori after groaning [umu] replied:
”—It would seeh you kissed, you couldn't seal any of the Spirit's power at all”
After being told that shi+dou's eyes widened
That's right Even after kissing [Yoshi+non], she was still using her Spirit powers
”Well, the affection level wasn't raised as high as that ti all of the power is i that not even a little bit of it could be sealed In nue it would be divided by 2 or even 3”
After saying that, she once again returned to talking to herself
”…Somehow either Yoshi+non has a hidden special ability, or—”
”Hey, HHeeeeyyyy, Kotori I think Yoshi+non is also a big problem but……err”
While saying that, shi+dou had his eyes turned towards Tohka's door
Kotori probably guessed what shi+dou was thinking and replied immediately
”—Ahh, it's about Tohka, huh? How is her condition now?”
”Just like what you can see……I was trying to talk to her just now, but it was no good”
”I see Fro the numerical values it would seeh then they flowed back into the Pass and are once again sealed Butit would be better if you hurried up and fixed her mood”
”Her mood……but how?”
”……shi+n If it's okay with you, would you leave this problem to me?”
After shi+dou asked, he heard a strangely sleepy voice from the intercam— It was Reine
”Eh…?”
”……As expected, she is getting worked up about that If I am notTohka to o out and buy the groceries?”
”I don’t mind but what is this about all of a sudden?”
A few h
”………With things like this, it is better if the shi+nperson concerned is not there These are delicate traits of a woman’s heart Please remember that”
”Ha-Haaa……”
shi+dou, scratched his cheek with a confused feeling
Part 2
”……And so, that's about it, Tohka I a me?”
The next day, 13th of May (Saturday) 10 AM
Just like what she said yesterday, Reine visited the Itsuka house and said those words in front of Tohka’s room
Her current attire wasn't the usual white robe or the army uniform Fro out fro with dark colored botto that she was planning to go out and buy so
But Tohka was the same as yesterday, and from beyond the door echoed an irritated voice
”Shut up, leave me alone………!”
She still sounded angry shi+dou, as standing right beside Reine let out a sigh
”She has been like this since yesterday”
”………Fumu”
Reine put her hand on her chin to show that she was thinking
And then froht out a ter her other hand
After looking at the terminal screen, she closed it and stepped forward towards the door
”………Tohka”
”I told you to leave me alone………! I wa—”
”………I a How about it?”
When Reine said that, Tohka was unexpectedly silent
And then, after 10 seconds
Creak
The bedroory face popped out
She probably hadn't changed her clothes since yesterday; she was still dressed in her high school unifor of which, maybe she hadn't slept, there were dark circles under her eyes If she were to walk beside Reine, others would say they were sisters
”Wha…?”
shi+dou opened his eyes wide in surprise
”Re-Reine-san……? What on earth did you do………?”
”…………Nothing It's because her hunger value is rising I thought it is probably about ti her limits now”
”I see………eh, yesterday night I tried calling her out for supper but she didn’t come out…”
”……That is well; she probably doesn't want to see your face”
”……”
And he was told such harsh words directly and plainly
But, it was the truth Tohka, who had finally co shi+dou pui she turned her face away, and walked aith heavy steps
”Hurry up and let's go!”
”………Un, let’s do that Rain has also been falling since thisan umbrella”
While saying that, Reine made eye contact with shi+dou that seemed to say [Leave this to me]
”………I-I' on you”
The only thing shi+dou could do was to send both of them off
And just like that he was standing there dazed for a few minutes
”Errrr………”
But, he ihtly pulled his cheek to regain his composure and then descended the stairs
”It's a day off fro in the afternoon too”
He planned to go shopping yesterday right after school, but because of various things he couldn't go
shi+dou hurriedly finished dressing, and left the house taking an umbrella with him
”U on to it just in case, since Kotori is still sleeping”
After opening the u that, shi+dou made footprints on the road of rain
—And then, wondering how long he spent walking
”………Uh!?”
In thestreet, he noticed the back of sos
That was, because he found soreen colored hood
”Yo-Yoshi+non………?”
shi+dou, raised his eyebrows as that name came out of his mouth
Yes, due to the area being destroyed by yesterday’s spacequake, fron that was placed up, the Spirit [Yoshi+non]'s figure was there
shi+dou hid his body behind the wall, observing [Yoshi+non]
”The alar……Eh, the same pattern with Tohka at that time, huh”
Speaking of that, when he encountered [Yoshi+non] the first ti Maybe because, she was a Spirit that frequently cooes to this dimension from the other world
”………But, what is the best thing to do now…?”
Now that he found her, there was no way he could ignore her now— he did not knohat kind of action he should take
After shi+dou took sohts— he pushed the buttons on his cell phone
After hearing the calling tone going on for a while, he heard a sleepy voice from his cell phone receiver
”………Fua~i……hello………? Onii-chan…………?”
It was clearly the sound of her just waking up And of course, it was shi+dou's sister, Kotori
”Hey GoodKotori”
”Unn-……Gud …………?”
”…It's an eency I found Yoshi+non”
”………”
The moment shi+dou said that, on the other side of his cell phone, Pachin! Pachin!, he heard the sound of cheeks being hit with all her ht
And right after that a dignified voice, that he knew and at the same time doesn't, echoed
”—Tell me about the whole situation in detail”
”Y-Yeah”
While being a little overpowered by the sudden change, shi+dou explained the current situation in a simple manner
”………I see Another quiet appearance huh? This is troubling— So, shi+dou’s existence hasn’t been discovered by the Spirit yet, right?”
”Aahhh……I think so What should I do?”
”Do you have the intercam?”
”Eh? Aah— yeah just in case”
shi+dou, lightly felt his pocket to confir of the small device was there
Since the affair with Tohka, he was told to carry one just in case there was a problem
”That is good Wear that Don’t lose sight of the Spirit and standby for orders”
”Eh? Wai—”
—— snap toot,toot,toot The call disconnected
”Sta-Stand by………”
From the careless instructions, he raised his eyebrows
Since, there was nothing else he could do He quietly put the intercam onto his ear, and peeked at [Yoshi+non]’s condition
After 5 minutes had past, from the intercam he heard his precious little sister's voice
Apparently she had finished her preparation in a short time, and then moved towards <fraxinus>
”—Can you hear me? shi+dou”
”……Yeah, I can hear you”
”We can't leave her alone if this continues For now let's make contact first”
”……Understood”
After taking a good breathes, he steadily walked towards [Yoshi+non]
Even now [Yoshi+non] was not in the state to realize shi+dou was there, she was desperately looking at the ground
”………Well then, talk to her”
”EehPl-Please wait a second”
Because of shi+dou approaching the Spirit, a as displayed on the bridges main monitor
①The sa over then show your stomach, to show that you have no hostility towards her
②Ihtly, to tell her the love from this side
③To show that you are unar stark-naked
Thethe Spirit, were shown in 3 patterns
”Tsk Although it hurts to not have Reine here, it can't be helped”
Kotori, after taking a glie, she clicked her tongue
Currently, Reine should be taking Tohka shopping right now They also couldn't take the chance of abandoning Tohka and lowering her mood even further
”—All members, choose!”
Together with that order, from the display on Kotori's hand, the crew's choices appeared on it
—①,②,③ All together, alathered
”Tsk It’s a little broken”
While Kotori was e echoed
”It should be ①! To ani the stomach is the pose for surrender! The other party would feel safer!”
”Ridiculous! Obviously ② is the decided one! Rabbits die when they are lonely!”
”That is just a girl wearing a rabbit hood— it’s not even a real rabbit anyway! Leaving that aside commander, it's choice number ③!, to show that there is no ulterior o naked, there are no other choices than being naked!”
”Shut up old hag! You only just wanted to see a naked high school boy!”
”Wha……? Uh, what a rude re a priht back to o!”
”What kind of talk is that! Anyways it's ② pick ②!”
”No, it must be ①!”
”Naked! Naked!”
”…………Quiet!”
Ba heated, got yelled at
And inside the quiet downed bridge, she slowly took the mike and—
”——shi+dou, before talking to her, take off your shi+rt”
She calmly, said that
Then froe, a few numbers of female crew members, and for some weird reason one male crew member, did a Guts pose [2C 1]
But—
”No way!”
shi+dou's shout echoed at the sa delivered via the speaker
”—!?”
The [Yoshi+non] in the screen, piku twitched her shoulders in surprise
”………! This is bad”
The moment shi+dou let out his shout, [Yoshi+non], turned towards hi motion
Her face turning pale and her teethsounds, her whole body started to tremble
”…………Hi, i……………u”
And thus, she wasthat she would cry at any h up
shi+dou's heart constricted as if were being squeezed by an illusionary hand
He had memories about thatlike this when the giant doll manifested
”Wai…, Wait! Calm down!”
But, even if as he said, that there was no way they could communicate
When Kotori also realized what [Yoshi+non] was trying to do, she too shouted out
”shi+dou! For now if you still have time ——pick ①! Show her your stomach and roll over!”
”Hu,——Haaaaah………!?”
”Hurry!”
There was no other way
After shi+dou threw his uround, on the road ith the rain, Roll, he threw himself down and rolled
”I give up, I surrender”
”…………!?”
At that instant, when [Yoshi+non] was going to swing her hands down, she made a dumbfounded face
And then, tiinal position, and started exa shi+dou’s current state
”………D-Did we………succeed?”
”—Probably, try talking to her while you avoid provoking her”
Being told that, shi+dou as still rolled over, slowly raised his neck
”………Y-Yo………”
”………………”
Even when he tried talking to her, [Yoshi+non] continued staring at him in full alert mode
”Wha-What is wrong with today……………?”
”………………”
”T-This is so rain………………”
”………………”
Nothing, there were no replies co back
”……………What a to do about this?”
shi+dou tried tilting his head to the side
It ht that he could see [Yoshi+non]’s left hand
Meaning, she was not wearing her puppet
At the saain a restraining voice echoed from Kotori
And again choices appeared on the <fraxinus> monitors
①Walk and approach her while talking in a tenacious way, and fill in the gap of the distance
②To regain normal composure, temporarily retreat
③Ask her why she is not wearing her puppet
”Fumu………”
After looking at the total results fro shown in the small display on her hand, Kotori made a small hum
The most common one was, ③ As expected everyone, realized that she was not wearing her puppet
And certainly it was also a matter that even Kotori wanted to find out
”shi+dou, pick ③ Shefor it It was about ti her about the puppet”
”………Understood”
With shi+dou in agreement, he opened his mouth
”Hey…………you, are you perhaps, looking for your puppet…………?”
”………………!”
The moment shi+dou said that, [Yoshi+non] immediately opened her eyes wide
And when he thought that, she ran towards hirabbed his head, as if to ask a question she shook his head hard
”………………! ………………!?”
”Ah, ouchouchouchouch……………! Wait, please stop that”
When he said that, [Yoshi+non] steadily removed her hands from shi+dou’s head
shi+dou got up while looking at the girl, and he then tried asking again
”As expected……………you were looking for it”
And [Yoshi+non] kept nodding her head hard
After that, she looked at shi+dou with very worried eyes It was as if, she was asking for the whereabouts of the puppet
”………………Uh, so-sorry I don’t knohere it is too…………”
When shi+dou said that, [Yoshi+non]her strength she sank down on the floor
And just like that she hung her head low, [ue…………, e…………] and the sounds of weeping started to leak out
”Er, errrrr……………”
If she were to go on a ra in its oay shi+dou quickly fell into a panic with his sights wandering around
”——Calm down, shi+dou”
And, the honest voice of Kotori got delivered into his eardrums
Receiving [Yoshi+non]'s reaction, the as deployed on the screen for the 3rd time
① ”That kind of guy, I will et about him” appeal to her as a reliable man
② ”Together with o find the puppet” appeal to her as a kind man
③ ”Actually I a!” appeal to her as a man filled with a humorous sense
”All members, your choices!”
When Kotori sent out that order, the total results were shown on her small-scaled display
The most votes were on ②, the next was ① And only one vote was on ③
”Well, ② is the safest choice ………but as the person that picked so like number ③”
”…………Is it a bad choice then?”
From behind, Kannazuki’s dispirited voice mumbled
”………………”
Kotori ignored him and pulled the mike towards her
”shi+dou, accompany her to look for that puppet”
And fro play is also not that bad too…………!] was heard but, she ignored it
”Er,erm about this, Yoshi+non”
”………………!”
The moment shi+dou raised his voice, [Yoshi+non]'s body shook in surprise again
And when she immediately waved her hands, the water puddles around her rose up, for like bullets that exploded near the place that shi+dou was sitting down
”No……………nowaa!?”
Without thinking, his body cramped
”So-sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”
As if to exauard he cautiously looked over there (………comparatively, when their eyes met she would look away) to [Yoshi+non], he fixed his posture and lowered his head a little
And then to show that there will not be any resistance he raised both of his hands up, then continued his words
”Err………I-If it is okay……I, will also help to search for the puppet with you?”
”……………!”
The moment shi+dou said that, [Yoshi+non] opened her eyes wide in surprise
After a few seconds, and for the first ti her head hard up and down
After shi+dou exhaled an [okay], he finally raised his hips up froround
It was quite wet but, well, noasn’t the time to care about it
”Ermmmm………soo, about that The puppet, where and when did you lose it?”
When asked, as if she was hesitating [Yoshi+non] eyes wandered around, and then she opened her cherry blossom colored lips
”…………Yesterday…………”
And then, she pulled the rabbit ears that were stuck on the hood and covered her face, while hiding her eyes she carried on talking aardly
”The scary…………people, when I realized…………ere………attacked, I lost it………”
”Hmmm……………? You, were attacked by the AST huh?”
When shi+dou said that, [Yoshi+non] threw her head down vertically
”I see, it was after that………………”
While shi+dou was talking, he looked around by craning his neck to the left then right
Whether it was destroyed buildings or cracked roads, he expanded his full view asto be a hard task
And, as if ht ear sounds were delivered from <fraxinus>
”——We will send you as many cameras as we have Try to co”
To show that shi+dou understood, he poked the intercaht his eyes to [Yoshi+non]
”Okay……now then, let's start searching, Yoshi+non”
”……………!”
[Yoshi+non] consented——aftera little in her mouth, she let out her voice
”I, I am…………”
”Eh?”
”I………am, not Yoshi+non,………but Yoshi+no Yoshi+non………is my, friend………”
”Yoshi+no…………?”
When shi+dou replied her by saying her nairl— Yoshi+no tried to run away
”Ah…………wait!”
And, probably she was surprised by that voice, Yoshi+no twitched her shoulders again
At that instant, the rain surrounding Yoshi+no suddenly turned into so like needles and fleards shi+dou
”Uwaaaaaaaa!?”
He lowered his head on the spot in panic, and e them
It was okay since there were just few But, if this was shot more towards shi+dou's body, he would have been a cactus by now
”C-Calm down! It’s me it’s me!”
When Yoshi+no turned this hile twitching, and after seeing shi+dou's face, she took a deep breath
shi+dou stood up while talking in a timid tone
”I-If it is okay use this…………although you are already wet, it’s still better than nothing right?”
He picked up the uave it to Yoshi+no
”???”
”Aah, this is how you use it”
He grabbed Yoshi+no's hand while she was tilting her head in curiosity, and then held it up
When he did that, she was surprised by the fact that raindrops no longer touched her, and Yoshi+no looked up with eyes that were turning around in amazement
The transparent vinyl u it while shi+ning brightly
”………………! ……………!”
Yoshi+no excitedly, flapped her other hand that was not holding the umbrella
”Y-Yeah, you are happy with it huh? Use it, use it!”
And after shi+dou said that, Yoshi+no turned her eyes to shi+dou as if she was asking him
”Ah………? Me?”
Yoshi+no nodded her head repeatedly
”Aah, I'm okay It's okay just use it”
After hesitatingly looking at the umbrella and then to shi+dou for a few moments
”Th………ank, y………ou”
And after she bowed and lowered her head, they continued their search for the puppet
”Doing so cool like that”
Fro like voice
”S-Shut up”
”—Well, if the Spirit's feels like it, soh But even before that, she has no difficultyrain bullets from the invisible film that she set up”
”I-Is that right?”
………Well, that wasn't really a proble soaked by the rain
shi+dou lightly wiped his wet face, and began the search
Part 3
”—How did it go? Did you find the puppet?”
”No, not yet We haven't found it yet”
When Kotori asked the question, she heard a reply froe
The time was now 12:30 pm It has been almost 2 hours since shi+dou and Yoshi+no started their search If they continue working under this rain, their bodies would get too cold and, their fatigue would also accumulate
It would have been okay if [Ratatoskr] were able to send in the erous if too ht scare Yoshi+no and then theyEven if she wasn’t scared by theood io to shi+dou, would be spread in multiple directions
”How about the ies?”