The dusk sky slowly closed over Tenguu City, leaving a soft orange glow mingling with purple on the horizon. From the rooftop of an old building not far from an abandoned amusement park, a gentle afternoon breeze blew, rustling the silver hair of a young man standing on the edge.
Kaito stood there silently, one hand tucked into the pocket of his black coat. He gazed down at the scene below: a desolate park with rusted amusement equipment and weeds beginning to swallow up the old iron swings. In the center of the scene, two figures stood facing each other: Shido Itsuka and the long-haired girl known to the world as the Witch. Natsumi Kyouno.
Kaito watched silently. From his position, he could see Shido trying to calm the girl down, while Natsumi continued to tease him. Everything was proceeding as he remembered it, as the story should have.
"So far… it's the same as the original," Kaito murmured softly, as if commenting on a movie he had already seen.
His tone was calm, relaxed, without the slightest hint of tension. He tucked the empty popsicle stick he'd bought into his pants pocket and leaned lightly against the rooftop railing. A quiet afternoon like this should have been the perfect time for a nap, but for some reason, his curiosity kept him observing the scene below.
Then something happened. From the sky, an AST unit appeared, a group of female soldiers in gleaming mechanical armor who immediately locked onto Natsumi. Missiles were launched in a flurry, streaking like metal rain across the twilight sky.
Kaito chuckled softly. "Well... the AST still never learns when to retreat, huh?"
But before the smoke and explosions could reach the ground, a rainbow-colored light erupted from Natsumi's flying stick. The missiles instantly transformed into carrots, raining down on the ground and exploding with a small, almost comical pop. Not stopping there, Natsumi swung her stick again, and a star-shaped beam of light shot toward the AST troops in midair, transforming them all into screaming bunny girls before plummeting to the ground.
Kaito stared at the scene, stunned for a moment, then chuckled. "That girl… has a unique style too."
He knew Natsumi wasn't the evil type, just someone who felt the need to mask her self-doubt with a flashy demeanor. And the way she'd driven away the AST troops had actually revealed a harmless, childish side to her.
He focused his gaze more intently, his blue eyes gleaming softly. "Let's try my new ability."
With a light exhale, his eyes shifted from clear blue to a deep red, swirling in intricate patterns. The Mangekyō Sharingan opened slowly, glowing like embers in the twilight.
"Kamui," he whispered quietly.
The space near Natsumi began to twist, twisting like cloth being twisted from two sides. The vibrations were barely audible, but the air around him began to ripple. Shido, somehow, reacted instantly. He turned quickly, his eyes sharpening as if something inside him was screaming danger. In one reflexive movement, he pulled Natsumi into his embrace and moved away from the spot just before the black vortex swallowed the air where they stood.
Kaito fell silent, watching from a distance. Then, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Good reflexes, Shido."
His voice was light, without a hint of threat or arrogance. He was simply genuinely impressed.
The space below returned to normal, as if it had never been disturbed. Dust billowed softly, rolling in the afternoon breeze. Shido was still holding Natsumi, while the girl looked confused, her eyes glassy but her face flushed. Kaito could guess what she was thinking; she must have misunderstood the sudden hug.
Kaito crossed his arms, chuckling slightly. "Looks like tonight will end in a misunderstanding."
The dusk light faded, and shadows began to engulf the roof of the building where he stood. From this position, Kaito looked like a part of the sky itself, still, untouched, yet observing everything. He didn't feel the need to interfere. The world below was running as it should.
"That's enough for today," he said quietly, gazing at the horizon where the sun was setting behind the tall buildings.
He stepped to the edge of the roof, the wind blowing his silver hair, which glistened softly in the last light of dusk. Instantly, the air around him warped, as if the world took a deep breath. In an instant, her body vanished, leaving a faint ripple in the air that slowly dissipated like mist.
And the park fell silent once more. The swing squeaked softly in the breeze, the reflection of city lights dancing on the rusted metal surface. Under the night sky beginning to fill with stars, no one realized that someone had just watched everything from the shadows, someone smiling softly, as if content simply to see the world continue as it should.
For Kaito, that was enough.
…
In the calm night sky, the Fraxinus floated silently among the clouds, its armored hull gleaming softly in the moonlight. Inside the main control room, the atmosphere was tense yet controlled. The light from dozens of holographic screens reflected blues and greens on the faces of the crew, who were working with intense focus.
In the captain's chair, Itsuka Kotori leaned forward slightly, her red eyes staring at the main screen displaying a visual of the abandoned amusement park below. From there, Shido appeared to be talking to Natsumi Kyouno, the spirit he had been tasked with taming.
Reine, standing to Kotori's left, looked calm as usual. Her long purple hair flowed softly, partially obscuring her face. In her hand, a tablet containing Natsumi's psychological data displayed a graph of her constantly changing emotions.
"It seems… it's going better than I thought," Kotori muttered, twisting a lollipop in her mouth. "Shido managed to keep the conversation calm. Natsumi even seems quite relaxed."
Reine stared at the tablet screen with gentle yet sharp eyes. "Correct. Her emotional curve is stabilizing… her alertness is decreasing, and her heart rate is returning to normal."
Kotori nodded slowly, smiling slightly in satisfaction. "At this rate, we might be able to conclude this mission before the end of the night. There's no need to deploy a second AST."
But before the mood could lighten, one of the crew members at the sensor desk turned quickly. "Commander! Spiritual activity in the target area is increasing, possible contact with AST troops!"
Kotori snickered. "They've appeared again…" She leaned forward. "Keep monitoring from a distance. Don't intervene unless Shido is in real danger."
On the main screen, the AST was seen launching missiles at Natsumi. Several crew members reflexively held their breath. But seconds later, all the missiles turned into carrots, falling to the ground with a small explosion. A scene that silenced the entire room was followed by the AST troops turning into rabbits and falling from the sky.
Kotori blinked once, then twice. "...Okay, I won't pretend to understand what just happened."
But the calm didn't last long.
"Commander!" another crew member exclaimed in a panicked tone. "Natsumi's mood has plummeted!"
Reine immediately stared at the data, her gentle eyes narrowed gravely. "The graph dropped suddenly… from stable to negative in a matter of seconds."
Kotori straightened, her expression turning serious. "Shido! Shido, listen to me!" she shouted into the communication device. "Natsumi's mood is deteriorating! Take care of her immediately—make her feel safe, quickly!"
Shido on the screen looked shocked, then tried to speak to Natsumi, who was now looking down, her shoulders trembling. Reine stared at the data relentlessly, while Kotori nervously bit her lollipop.
"...come on, Shido, don't let her lose control," she whispered softly.
But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the screen on the right suddenly beeped loudly—beep! beep!—indicating a spatial anomaly was detected.
The crew member monitoring the sensors shouted, "Commander! A surge in spatial activity has been detected at the coordinates around the target's head! The amplitude… is increasing rapidly!"
Kotori quickly turned to the main screen, her eyes widening. There, the space around Natsumi's head began to twist, forming a small vortex like a miniature black hole that vibrated intensely. The surrounding light warped strangely, as if the world itself were folding.
"What? What's happening there?!" Kotori exclaimed, her tone a mix of shock and concern.
"A spatial phenomenon… but this isn't a normal spatial quake," Reine said evenly, but her eyes revealed a rare confusion. "There's no indication of spirit energy from Natsumi. The source isn't Haniel."
Kotori stared unblinkingly at the screen, her heart pounding. In a split second, she saw Shido pull Natsumi away with incredible reflexes, dodging the vortex just before it sucked them both in.
Some of the crew cheered in relief, while Kotori finally let out a long breath. "Haah… my heart almost stopped." She leaned back in her chair, lightly hitting her chest. "It's a good thing the child was quick to react. Otherwise…"
Reine closed her tablet slowly, looking at Kotori. "She saved her in time. Natsumi's emotions are rising again… look."
Kotori turned her head. On the data screen, the graph that had previously dropped drastically was now gradually rising, the red replaced by a soft green.
"What a rapid change…" Reine murmured. "It's most likely due to the sense of security and positive shock of being rescued. Such interactions can create a huge emotional impact."
Kotori leaned back with her chin propped up, staring thoughtfully at the screen. "Then, at least our mission hasn't failed. But still…"
She glanced at the main screen again, where the spatial vortex had appeared briefly before disappearing as if it had never existed.
"Reine, do you have any idea what just happened? There weren't any other spirits there, were there?"
Reine shook her head slowly. "Nothing. No energy reaction was detected other than Natsumi. Usually, such spatial phenomena only occur due to the collision of two large dimensional forces, like during a spacequake. But this time…"
She stared at the screen, her pupils reflecting the glint of holographic data. "…only one source, and it appeared and disappeared too quickly."
Kotori frowned, biting her lollipop halfway. "So in other words… we don't know anything."
"That's it," Reine replied calmly. "But there's a positive side: Natsumi's emotions have increased quite a bit. Now Shido's chances of success have increased by about thirty percent."
Kotori let out a long sigh, then rubbed her face. "Well, if that's the result, I won't complain. But I hate this feeling…" He looked out the window, at Tenguu City, which was beginning to fall into night. This feeling of trepidation was very uncomfortable.