Vol 13 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1: Don't Panic It's a Spirit's Trap

Part 1

Zuuuuuuuuu………………along with thesucked into a huge inspection machine

“U……………”

There laid Itsuka shi+dou, who slowly lowered his eyelids as he closed his eyes

Up until now, he already received several inspections; as expected, the feeling wasn’t really good It was a pri shole by a huge animal

After shi+do’s body was entirely sed inside the h shi+do’s body

After few minutes later, the machine finally removes itself from the bed where shi+dou had laid down

“Yes, it’s done, shi+dou”

“Ng………………”

Upon hearing the voice that had come from above, shi+dou slowly opened his closed eyes

Next to the bed, there’s a girl standing up with a concerned look Her hair is tied up with black ribbon

And, she is eating chupa-cups in her mouth If you take a look at those characteristics, the only thing you can feel froirl

She is wearing crimson e i for the clothes

It should be it This girl is none other than shi+do’s little sister, as well as <ratatoskr> commander, Itsuka Kotori

“How’s your physical condition?”

“Aah, there’s nothing wrong But……how long should I undertake this? Feels like it’s already been half month………”

shi+do’s ht, even until now, after sealing spirit’s spiritual power he always had to go through this kind of exath had been more than usual

So far now, he himself already understands the mechanism of this one ave it an appearance of a huge cross-ways cylinder The big entrance orifice made it look like a serpent

Seeing shi+dou’s reaction, Kotori exhaled

“Hey…………shi+dou, you already understand right? About how’s your body condition is?”

“Uhh………”

To be honest, shi+dou hesitates to answer

In the beginning of thisthat interfered with the path between hi berserk, it was shi+dou whose poent berserk instead

It was thanks to the effort of everyone that the proble more attention to shi+do’s body condition

“Sorry…………thanks, because I can’t re about that time I don’t knohat to say………”

shi+dou said that in apologetic aze away froht I’m sorry”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I……”

Seeing Kotori response, shi+dou went into a state of silence and thought

From then on, the conversation stopped for few seconds

Kotori’s is showing an unusual attitude She didn’t reply him back with a sarcasm scold like usual That’s because Kotori feels responsible regarding her role to put an end to him

“Ah…………”

Somehow, it’s feels uncory, but seeing Kotori look so depressed made him feel pain as an older brother

shi+dou changed his body position froan to move closer towards Kotori

”What~, don't be so sulky~ Onii-chan is lonely~”

“Wha…………?! W-Wait, what are you doing!”

“Hey~, Kotori~”

”What~, don't be so sulky~ Onii-chan is lonely~”

”Ahh! Don't cling to me!”

Kotori’s face turned red, and then shi+dou’s head receives a chop afterward So felt the pain on his head, he strokes his head and laughs a little

“……………What’s that, so creepy Don’t you think there’s so with you?”

“That’s not it; your hit just now means you’re already back to your usual self Thank you Kotori”

After shi+dou says that, Kotori’s face turned red again It was extremely obvious Thus, shi+dou patted Kotori’s head Kotori’s shoulders shook a little, but she lets shi+dou continue to pat her head

After that, a small sound of someone’s call could be heard

“…………Sorry for interrupting you two”

“…………!”

Upon hearing that voice, Kotori’s body started tre Immediately, she snaps shi+dou’s hand from her head

“A-Aah Reine, you’re pretty fast Is the result already out?”

And then everyone’s facial expression become serious, they come closer to the direction of the voice shi+dou and Kotori walk away together, there’s so at them over there

During that ti a <ratatoskr> unifor hair put in a simply hairstyle and has an old stuffed teddy bear that she puts in her breast pocket The stuffed bear has lots of scratches, and the woether on the bear er

Murasame Reine, is an analyst here, as well as Kotori’s companion

“……………Yes This thing is similar to <fraxinus>; this machinery has a realizer installed in it as well”

While saying this, Reine’s hand pointing out to some documents on the clip board

“………………Look at it, shi+n’s spiritual energy value froun to fall down into the normal state This equipment wasn’t able to detect any abnormal Reiryoku The current status of the route between you and the spirits now is noro back to the usual periodic medical checkup like before”

“Is it true? That’s a relief”

shi+dou while saying that, change his body’s position and begin stretching his body

Right now shi+dou and the others are inside the underground facility own by <ratatosk> Because <fraxinus> is still under repair, they had to go to the underground facility for the medical checkups instead

In addition, half of a month has already passed since that day and now they were reaching the end of the ht now the school is in its winter’s holiday, after this there’s the New Year’s holiday There are various things they can watch Starting from now, until the end of holiday, they can use their ti Thanks to that, shi+do can take care of the kitchen properly now

And, upon seeing shi+dou’s reaction, “……But” then Reine continued her words

“……………After this, we should talk so related to your body’s condition”

“Eh……………?”

With that worried tone, shi+dou’s facial expression unintentionally became stern

“What do youhappened to the Spirits too!?”

“……………No, that’s not what I mean ………… It’s about your physical measurement’s record you made when you were sick and your actions when you seduce Ai, Mai, Mii and Miss Oka the overheat, which we still have yet to create a story for”

“Buh!”

Hearing Reine’s words, shi+dou coughed at that instant

Right When the path got disturb, shi+dou’s consciousness becaue It’s like he was half conscious He heard froe at that time

“……………About the unusual record of physicalrecord is quite troubleso wind blowing back then, or because you accidentally drank a cold medicine, which by any chance contained a extent of a dope inside the ingredients I think we still have a chance to make up an explanation”

“Well, I don’t think it will be that easy, though……”

But, rather than letting others know about the Spirits, shi+dou choose to agree with this plan However, the real problem is the other one Reine also understands about this as well Even until now, this problem is still unsolved

“As for the Ai, Mai, and Mii case, you can say it was simply a joke Now there’s only one left to be explained That person is Miss Oka ceremony reservation………”

“Gwah!”

Upon Reine’s unexpected sentence, shi+dou started coughing onceceremony reservation………!?”

“………Yes Somehoe can explain the condition to her, now she already understands the situation, but still, she wanted to ht froe a place for you to meet her and try to fix this problem within this winter holiday”

“…………Kuh, this is pretty difficult………”

A lot of possibilities begin appearing inside shi+dou’s mind

After that, a voice can be heard co from Reine’s unifor

“………Ng, so it’s already time”

“Do you have another business?”

“…………Yes Let’s ain later; we’ll meet in the next appointment”

“Is that so? Well, I’ll be excusing ize to that person”

shi+dou excuses himself, as Reine assents his plan, while Kotori waves her hand

“………Aah I’m sorry”

“Perhapsdinner time Do you need a car?”

“Ng………, I don’t think I need one I’ll go shopping before I go back to home”

“Is that so? Then see you later”

“Yes”

shi+dou waves his hand, and left the room

After that, he went next door to the locker roo the hallway in a relax manner

On the way, he takes out his cell phone from his pocket to confirm the time; it’s not yet 2:00 pm

“Ng…………there’s still some time left Well then, what should I do now………”

While walking, shi+dou’sfilled hat kind of ht’s dinner His footsteps echo in the hallway

While he’s walking, there’s sound of footsteps co shi+dou

“Ooh, shi+dou-kun Are you returning home now?”

“Is the examination finished already?”

The irl had shoulder’s length hair The woman was the one who had called out to hiawa Munechika and shi+zaki Hinako They see, as they were both holding white vinyl bag on their hands

“Yes I’one back to normal”

“Haha, that’s good The body is our most important feature”

“I think so too Treasure your body properly”

“Haha…… I’ll will Did the both of you just co?”

“Yes In <fraxinus>, it’s really hard to be able to go out, but in this underground facility, we can go out a lot easier”

“Aah, sure it is”

Agreeing, shi+dou nodded at theround facility is Tengu City’s s in every spot of the street, as well as civilian ho in this place because they can go out easier

Of course, as <ratatoskr> anization So, Nakatsugawa and the others right now aren’t wearing their <ratatoskr> uniforms Instead, they put on a coat which looks more like an ordinary co on their neck to prove that they’re a company employee

This way, no one would even think that they’re part on a secret organization at all “But, somehow I feel a little bit lonely As amyself into my own limit! I hope <fraxinus> will be finish repaired immediately!”

Then, Nakatsugawa gripped his pallitter shi+do awa act…………But as a boy, shi+dou can understand what Nakatsugawa means by that

“So………what the two of you buy then?”

When shi+dou asked, the two s on their hands

Inside, there’s a lot of sweet stuff that Kotori probably asked them to buy

“Chupa-Cups, right?”

“Ah, you know already?”

Hearing shi+dou’s guess, shi+zaki gave a smile “As expected from Onii-chan”

“I too bought some sweet stuff for stock and this one!”

Next, Nakatsugawa took out a book fro

It’s a Shōnen azine around B5 size paper The front cover illustration is a boy set up a pose with a sword On top of that is the printed logo of <weekly shōnen=”” blast=””>[1]

“Ng? This is………Blast?”

“That’s right This is the latest issue they have on sale for today Has shi+dou-kun ever read it before?”

“Of course That’s obvious In our era, there’s no one who has never read this popular azine”

But, what is that? shi+do inclined his head in wonder Seeing shi+dou’s reaction, Nakatsugawa pointed out his finger to the bottom left side of the front cover

“What’s do you mean, this is………Eeh?”

Not believing what he just saw, shi+dou took a closely look once more

Seeing his reaction, Nakatsugawa nodded in satisfaction

“Right After hiatus for a long time, Honjou Souji’s series [SILVER BULLET], has just resumed publication this month!”

“Ah, you’re right I used to read this one too For soo, this series suddenly stopped publishi+ng, and after that it has never been publish in the ht?”

“Right! The author and the publisher picked up the series again It said the reason for the hiatus was because of the sudden illness of the author, but in fact, that was only a ain! For this kind of thing to be happening…… I too still can’t believe this, for me to be able to read the continuation of [SILVER BULLET] is an unbelievable thing that I’ve never even thought of before………!”

“Ha~, Uwaah~, How nostalgic”

Interested, shi+dou and Nakatsugawa continue with their heated discussion, shi+zaki knits her eyebrows, and then took out a cell phone froht it closer to her ear

“Yes, this is shi+zaki speaking……Aah, yes, understood We’ll be there right away”

shi+zaki ended the call She apologize to shi+do says that they have to leave

“I’o now Here, can we leave this to you for commander?”

After saying that, she raised her hand, and hands the shopping bag to hiive it to Kotori

“It’s alright You can focus on your work”

“Thank you very much We’re saved Well then………”

shi+zaki bowed to him, then she walks in a hurry to the opposite direction and vanished froawa also bid his farewell to him

“Then, I’ll excusethe [SILVER BULLET]!”

“Haha……Then, see you later”

After shi+dou said good bye to him, he walks to the opposite direction with shi+zaki already gone by now

“Then~ let’s hurry up deliver this to her”

Because the shopping bag shi+dou bring in his hand is light, he came back in no time at all; the door of the room is already opened

“Oi~, Kotori This is your order from shi+zaki-san,…………Eh”

Instantly, shi+dou’s body froze

But that reaction is normal Inside the rooripped tightly………Kotori abruptly threw the girl into the bed and was violently trying to reirl’s hospital clothes

“Kya~! Kyaaaaaaa!”

“You! Be obedient………! Take off your clothes!“

“Ko, Kotori…?”

Right in front of his eyes now, there’s a flower garden, shi+dou’s heartbeat started beating faster then Kotori begin to notice shi+dou’s presence Recognize him, Kotori’s shoulder started to shake

“S-shi+dou!? Didn’t you leave already?”

“W-well, just noas about to deliver your ordered goods………”

shi+dou averted his gaze away from her

“How should I say………sorry But, forcing against so, you know………” “You’re co!”

Kotori tries to explain She fixes the girl’s cloth that is lying on the bed She draws her hand froirl

That girl looks like around Kotori’s age Her hair tied up into one ponytail, and there’s a small mole below her left eye

She wears the same hospital cloth with the shi+do had worn previously There’s only one reason for her to wear that The girl’s physical condition ood terms

Looking at the figure, shi+dou widened his eyes

”Mana!?”

“Eh……?Ah, Nii-sama!”

The girl responded with a surprise tone

Right over there now, there’s a girl who self-proclaimed herself to be shi+dou’s blood related little sister, her name is Takamiya Mana

“Yes There’s nothing in particular Right now I just think that we should do a detail exa”

“There’s no need, because Mana didn’t feel sick anywhere~ that’s all! That’s why I’ht!”

“………”

Kotori glared at Mana Mana made a wry smile and sweat ran down her cheeks

Coins to rey went berserk, DEM caed to co could happen

“I see……You helped me too Thank you, Mana”

“Nii-sama………”

Hearing shi+dou’s word, Mana made a Nii smile before she stood up

“What are you talking about? Mana and Nii-saers; there is no need to say that!”

“Haha……That’s right”

shi+dou replied with a smile

Then Mana, as sed her facial expression into very serious, sloalking, advancing while staring at shi+do

“By the way, Nii-sa I alanted to hear if I were to meet Nii-sama………”

“Ng, what is it?”

“Yes About what Nii-sama said back then-“

But so interrupts Mana before she could finish her sentence Kotori went “Ngh…………”

Kotori laughed in strange way and placed her arms on Mana’s shoulders

“Maaaanaaaa? Why are you running away like that while you’re talking with shi+dou?”

“Eh? Ah, no, I didn’t ……”

Even though Kotori is acting very friendly, so really cold that can be sensed between her words Mana’s face beca able to see Kotori’s face froht nowa very scary expression

However, Kotori only sighed

“Don’t ht now, if you weren’t there at that tirateful for that

Mana can feels Kotori’s feeling behind her words, Mana relaxed herself a little bit upon seeing this; suddenly Kotori put so rip on Mana’s shoulder

“That’s why, there’s no need for you to be afraid So don't be so scared About the fact that you went out without caring about your body, or about recklessly using a Realizer, or the fact that you went uncontactable after, and yet exchange contact with Reine without , I'm not bothered by it even a liiiiiiiiiitle bit”

“H-Hiiiiiiii!?”

Kotori’s fingers gripped onto Mana’s shoulder tightly Tears started to flon fros her head repeatedly

“H-Hey, Kotori……Don’t worry too much, okay?”

Hearing shi+dou, Kotori turned back and glared at him

“To hear such a thing from you, how can I put this, I don’t know anyone ould do reckless things like you siblings do”

“Ugh……”

“That’s……”

Both shi+dou and Mana cannot deny that and stopped their sentences With this, they are back to the previous matter

Looking at their reaction, Kotori can only sigh Then, she turns back to staring at Mana again “Anyhow, don’t try to escape this time, okay You should finish this examination, and you’ll receive proper treatment Be prepared We’ll examine you even to places that you didn’t even know about yourself”

“Kyaaa~! Kyaaaaaaaaa!”

While saying that, Kotori continued to grab Mana’s shoulder Mana’s feet began to shake and she starred screa

“Nii-samaaaa! Save meeeee!”

“No, it’s not good to running away……… See you later”

Part 2

Despite of Mana’s screa nearby, then he walks out from the inspection room and rides the elevator He passes three layers of electronic doors and finally appears inside a public building Coround facility, the outer part looks ordinary

Then shi+dou reht now

“Next……”

A certain place came up in shi+dou’s mind as he continues to walk

Even though it’s only one day after Christed from a western-style into a very japanese-style The Christmas tree which was lined up in front of the stores has already been exchanged with a row of New Year’s decorations, hinting that the New Year is almost here Not only that, even Santa Claus and his Reindeers are also nowhere to be seen anyes of cake on the top of shelf are still left, even though it does not suit the ht now

This instant change isn’t so that has happened for the first tiht it’s an interesting pheno the holy night until the other day are now already back to their daily lives and waiting for the New Year Although there are several national festivals that don’t relate with japanese religions; until now, those festivals have been included in a big event for about one week so far At that time, everyone will be quite busy That is inevitable

shi+dou, while walking on the street, looks at the store’s decoration that is filled with New Year’s

“Even though this is soe still feels ie so fast”

Even if he says so, it’s not like shi+dou is co this event anyway

Seeing the town being very lively is a good thing, and above all in this period, there are lots of rare ingredients being displayed in front of the stores There are also soat it, he feels that he can have

“By the hat should I do now……”

shi+dou placed his hand on his chin while thinking He thinks that he should ht’s dinner Besides, New Year’s Eve and the New Year will arrive in few days Even if <ratatoskr> said that they will pay for the cost of food, eating too ood for the body either

He decided that he won’t cook too much, but shi+dou makes up his mind that he will cook some delicious menu for today as well

“Perhaps a japanese ood…… Recently I haven’t eaten fish at all”

Speaking to hi it was okay

The ti towards the highest spot However, the temperature is rather low due to the fact that it is now the last week of Deceredients that he oes to a store that is fa he needs to buy

“……Okay It’s here, isn’t it?”

About thirty redients for dinner After that, he heads back to ho

Then…

“………Ng?”

Suddenly, shi+dou stopped around the corner of the street

But that’s norirl that has fallen unconscious on the street

“Wha………!?”

Looking at the unexpected situation, shi+dou’s shoulder trembled

“A, Are you alright!?”

He rushes to the girl’s place, placing the shopping bag on the street he tries to help her stand up

But, shi+dou stopped his hands It is said that if you happen to find someone fallen on the street, then it is better not to irl is victi her posture will likely become very fatal

Then, while shi+dou wonders what he should do, the girl unexpectedly ertips

After that, she slowly raises her head up unsteadily Thereby, the face of the girl who had kissed the ground began to show

Froht be one or two years older than shi+dou Her eyes look tired and her lips look dry Looking at her face, the color of fatigue can be seen clearly Her eyes bags looks heavy and dark circles surround her eyes Rather than being hit by the car in traffic accident, it’sto say that she has collapsed due to overwork

Realizing that the girl is still consciousness, shi+dou tries to support the girl’s shoulders, and tries to help her stand up

He can’t tell very well because he can only see her back side, but apparently the girl was only wear a coat on top of her room clothes That’s how she dressed up In addition, under this cold weather, the girl only wears pair of sandals without wears any stocking at all

Perhaps she’s soo outside in this kind of style without worrying about the cold, Occasionally shi+dou also dresses up in the saoes to a nearby convenient store in the ht

Then, the girl focuses her eyes to look at shi+dou’s face and moves her lips to speak Then, she lets out a voice that sounds si tone

“ mach, ty…”

“Eh? W-What did you say? What happened?”

While shi+dou is listening again, the girl once again repeats the same sentence

“………My stomach is empty………”

“……… Huh?”

Upon hearing this, shi+dou widen his eyes unintentionally Then, froirl’s stomach came out a sound, Guu, Kruuuu……… That’s how it sounds

Then a few irl who had fallen on the ground They walk along the path guided by shi+dou

“………Ng~, so sorry~, boy……”

The girl that shi+dou is piggybacking on his back let out a voice without any vigor

In the end, although her consciousness has returned, she insist that she cannot move due to her empty stomach, so shi+dou has no other choice than to escort her to her home

“Don’t ht for you to not go to the hospital instead?”

“Yes~, Alright~ Alright~ I’m not sick at all Moreover, wouldn’t it waste so et there?”

After saying that, the girl waves and flutters her hands

“By the way, no need to use honorifics like that~ I don’t like being too formal~”

“Aah… I understand”

“Hey~, you still haven’t change the way you speak”

“I-I……get it”

With that tone, shi+dou replies to her while sweating

Contrary to the girl’s slender appearance, her personality is quite bold, such an unpredictable girl

Besides, collapsing froer in advance country like japan nowadays is an unco However, this unpredictable scene was just too surprising; he has not even heard her circumstances yet It makes him wonder what in the world had happened to her

“Ah, please go to the mansion over there”

While shi+dou is thinking, the girl raises her right arm and points to the opposite direction from where they are now