"I finally…"
A voice echoed by his ears. Shichen opened his eyes and saw a woman who looked as though she desperately needed sleep, standing in a corridor with mechanical walls.
The woman in front of him was dressed in what appeared to be a military-style uniform, looking to be in her twenties. Her hair was casually tied up, her eyes were rimmed with pronounced dark circles, and peeking from the pocket on her chest was a tattered little black cat plush toy.
It looked like it had seen better days.
She radiated a completely listless air and spoke in a tired tone:
"Hello."
"Hello."
Shichen nodded slightly, then asked, pretending not to know the answer:
"And you are?"
"…I'm Murasame Reine, working here as an analyst."
Murasame Reine seemed stunned for a moment, then responded softly.
"Murasame-san? Hello." Shichen smiled slightly.
"Mhm."
Murasame Reine stared at Shichen for a moment as if in a daze, then snapped back to reality, turned around, and said, "Come with me. I'll take you to meet someone… I'm not very good at explanations."
As she spoke, Murasame Reine began walking. Shichen quickly followed alongside her.
…
"Where is this place?"
Right now, he was in a narrow corridor. The surrounding walls and floor were mechanical, mainly in pale colors, like something from a spaceship corridor in a movie.
In truth, it wasn't far off.
"This is the Fraxinus… Ah…"
Murasame Reine got halfway through her sentence before suddenly stumbling, about to collapse. Shichen hurriedly caught her.
"Are you okay?"
Murasame Reine leaned feebly against Shichen's chest. For a moment, a hint of bliss flickered across her face before disappearing. She replied in a soft voice, "Ah… Sorry, probably just sleep deprivation."
"In that case, how long have you gone without sleep?"
"Hmm…"
Murasame Reine tilted her head as if trying to remember, then raised three fingers.
"Three days?" Shichen asked for confirmation.
"No… It should be thirty years, I think?"
"You can't be serious."
"Um… I don't really remember the last time I slept. I just have a bit of an insomnia problem, that's all."
"I see. But getting enough sleep is important for staying healthy."
"I know. But… you don't seem to doubt what I'm saying. Do you believe I haven't slept in thirty years?"
Murasame Reine suddenly looked at him inquisitively.
"Huh? Oh, I thought you were just joking." Shichen laughed as he explained.
"I see… Oh, I almost forgot—I have to take my medicine."
She suddenly took out a bottle of pills from inside her coat. Opening it, she tilted her head back, apparently intending to swallow them all at once.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
Startled, Shichen grabbed her mouth. The pills struck the back of his hand and scattered onto the floor.
Clink, clatter.
"What are you doing?" Murasame Reine countered.
Feeling the warmth of her breath on his palm, Shichen pulled his hand back and, in a scolding tone, asked, "What were you doing just now?"
"I was taking my medicine." She answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"And why so many? What kind of medicine is that?"
"Just some sleeping pills."
"Just sleeping pills? That many at once would kill you."
"Relax. They don't work on me."
"This isn't about whether they work or not. There's no way you should be downing that many pills at once!"
Shichen knew that Murasame Reine was special and that she wouldn't actually be harmed, but her attitude just now was too concerning for him to ignore.
"It's really fine. Plus, they're sweet and taste pretty good."
"You do know that's not candy!" Shichen couldn't hold back and gave her a light tap on the head.
"Y-ow?"
Murasame Reine stared blankly at Shichen, as though lost in thought.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"No, it's nothing… Fine, I won't take them. We've already been delayed. Please follow me."
She abruptly pulled away from Shichen's arms, swayed unsteadily to her feet, put the empty pill bottle away, and wobbled onward.
Shichen frowned at her back, then started walking again to catch up with her.
They said nothing more, only the light sound of their footsteps echoing through the corridor. After walking for a while, they finally reached their destination.
…
"This is it."
They'd arrived at the end of the corridor. Murasame Reine stopped in front of a door with a small electronic panel to the side. The panel emitted a gentle beep, and the door automatically slid open.
"Go on in."
Without a backward glance, Murasame Reine walked in. Shichen followed after her.
"Wow… This is amazing."
The interior had a strong sci-fi feel—like a starship's bridge. From the door Shichen just entered, the floor curved into a semi-oval shape, with a chair in the center that you might call the captain's seat.
On both sides of the captain's chair were gently sloping steps leading down to the lower level, where several crew members were operating precision instruments.
For some reason, the sight made Shichen feel a surge of excitement. Perhaps it was simply that starships are part of a man's romantic dreams.
"I've brought him here," Murasame Reine said to a man standing next to the captain's seat.
"Thank you for your hard work."
The tall man turned around and gave a slight bow, reminiscent of a butler.
He was strikingly handsome, with long blonde hair. He didn't look Japanese at all.
"Pleased to meet you for the first time. I'm Kannazuki Kyouhei, the vice-commander here. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Shichen-san."
"Oh~ You know me?" Shichen raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Kannazuki Kyouhei gave a mild smile.
"I see."
It looked like things were as he had suspected: his future self must have come back to the past and done something here.
"Commander, Analyst Murasame is back."
Kannazuki Kyouhei turned politely toward the captain's seat and spoke.
"Mhm."
A youthful, serious-sounding female voice rang out. The previously back-facing captain's seat emitted a low whir and slowly turned around.
"I offer you a hearty welcome ~ Welcome to Ratatoskr!"
Now Shichen could see the commander clearly: a cute girl draped in a deep-red military uniform, one leg crossed over the other. She had long red hair tied into twin tails with a big black ribbon. Her figure was petite, and her round eyes gleamed slyly, exuding a striking aura.
Yet her face was so adorably youthful, and she had a lollipop in her mouth. It was hard to feel any sense of authority from her.
She removed the lollipop from her mouth, stood up with a sweet smile, and dove into Shichen's arms.
"Long time no see, Shichen-nii!"
"Huh?"
Shichen caught her, feeling confused.
"Kotori?"
"It's me!"
Kotori Itsuka cheerfully rubbed her head against his chest.
With the example of Chisato fresh in his mind, Shichen was less rattled this time—but it was still a bit abrupt.
"How long has it been since we last met?"
"Five years already! I've missed you, Shichen-nii!"
"Five years, huh…"
"What's wrong, Shichen-nii?" Kotori peered up at him curiously.
"I'd like to explain, but this probably isn't the right moment." Shichen glanced around.
"Hmm?"
Kotori paused, then followed his gaze. Finally realizing everyone was watching her with indulgent smiles, she blushed deeply. Quickly letting go of Shichen, she hurried back to the captain's seat.
"Heh heh~"
Shichen couldn't help chuckling.
Although he and Kotori had just met—he wasn't the 'Shichen-nii' she spoke of—he already knew a lot about her, so it didn't feel too unfamiliar.
"Ahem."
Kotori cleared her throat twice to hide her embarrassment, then spoke in a serious tone:
"Once again, welcome, Shichen-nii, to Ratatoskr."
"This place is called Ratatoskr?"
"That's right. It's an organization created specifically for you, Shichen-nii."
"Created for me? What about Itsuka Shidou?"
"Itsuka Shidou? Who's that? And why does he share my last name?" Kotori frowned, puzzled.
"You don't know? Then…?" Shichen looked at Murasame Reine.
"Huh?" Murasame Reine also tilted her head, equally lost.
"This is really…"
"Shichen-nii, you still like to say strange things. Don't worry about that. More importantly, let's begin our Ratatoskr operation!"
"By operation, you mean…?"
"You might not know about the AST yet, but that's okay. All you need to know is that the Spirit you must protect is in danger, and every one of us here at Ratatoskr will help you protect her."
"You mean the Spirit I'm supposed to protect?"
Spirits—like the girl he had just encountered—didn't originally belong to this world. The moment they appeared here, even if they didn't mean any harm, they would trigger a space quake that destroyed the surrounding area.
Spirits posed a threat to this world and to humanity. Protecting them was essentially standing in opposition to mankind.
And yet, Ratatoskr claimed they would help him protect the Spirits.
That was a far cry from what he remembered!
~~~
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