Shichen already knew exactly how many spirits were left—and even where she was.
He just hadn't expected Murasame Reine to bring it up on her own.
Had she gotten impatient?
He had said he would only go to the First Spirit after all the others were safe.
Since that was the case, time to bring the last spirit home.
On Friday, Tokisaki Kurumi and Yamada Sawa moved into Shichen's house.
Rooms weren't a problem at all—just expand the space a bit and you could have as many as you wanted, as big as you wanted.
"Why did Sawa's hair get so pretty?"
"Did she really become a spirit?"
"Her skin looks so smooth now too."
"Becoming a spirit doesn't sound so bad~"
"You're all the same, aren't you? One by one your skin's so tender you could probably squeeze water out of it," Sawa replied with a modest smile to their envy.
But she was just stating facts.
They were all spirits. Aside from differences in appearance, there really wasn't much else to compare.
Well, maybe height, size, and general "shape."
And they were all one of the "Four Divine Beasts," so to speak.
"Hehe~ that's the only real perk of becoming a spirit," Honjou Nia said.
"How can it be the only one? Doesn't meeting Darling count?" Itsuka Miku corrected her.
"You…"
"Hehehe~ the struggle for dominion over the 'back garden' is always fierce. Remember to think before you speak," Miku teased.
"'Back garden queen'… you're exaggerating," Kotori muttered from the couch, lollipop in her mouth, shaking her head.
The house was getting more crowded, and she wasn't exactly happy about it. She wanted to have Shichen to herself.
But that was only wishful thinking.
At least the other girls weren't bad—just not exactly "normal."
"Sawa, why did you choose the same hair color as me?" Tobiichi Origami walked up to her and asked seriously.
"It's similar to mine too," Nia chimed in.
"You're different. Yours is grey. We're white—that's called 'white hair,'" Origami corrected her.
Nia: "…"
"When I became a spirit, my hair was already like this. I thought it looked pretty good, so I kept it," Sawa answered honestly.
"But…"
"The characters are overlapping," Origami frowned.
Up until now, everyone's hair color had been different. Now someone else had the same color she did. That meant she wasn't unique anymore.
What if, someday when she's kneeling in front of Shichen, resting her head on his leg unable to speak while he rubs her head, he suddenly thinks of someone else?
"Uh…" Sawa blinked, not quite sure what she meant.
"Look, everyone else has different hair colors, but we two are the same. Isn't that not so great?" Origami pressed.
"Oh, so that's it… But have you ever thought about why Shichen made my hair white when I became a spirit?" Sawa asked.
"Why?"
"Because he likes white hair."
"Eh?"
"Shichen likes white hair. That's why I ended up with white hair as a spirit. Which means he also likes your hair color."
"I-Is it really like that?" Origami's eyes blinked rapidly.
"Sure is. So even if our hair matches, they're both colors Shichen likes. We can be good sisters that way."
"If Onii-chan likes white hair… then okay," Origami accepted easily.
"Hehe~ if we get a chance, we should do it together sometime," Sawa leaned over and whispered into her ear.
"Do it together?" Origami looked puzzled.
"Like Kaguya and Yuzuru."
"That was exactly my plan."
"Then that's perfect." Sawa held out her hand.
Origami also reached out and took it. A sense of mutual understanding shimmered between them.
From a distance, Kurumi watched the scene and frowned slightly. She had a feeling Sawa was up to something.
She'd basically been forced into agreeing to Sawa's "proposal" over the past couple of days just to shut her up.
Agreeing was one thing. Actually going through with it was another.
"Alright, you all should get some rest. Tomorrow, we're going to pick up your last sister," Shichen said, clapping his hands.
"Our last sister?" Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"Mm. The First Spirit only created ten spirits. There's just one left now, and I've already found her."
"Where is she? Has she already manifested?" Kotori asked.
"She manifested a long time ago. But she's not on this planet."
"Not on this planet? What do you mean?"
"Hehehe~ she's out in space~" Nia chimed in.
"In space?!"
The last spirit lived in outer space.
Shichen didn't pretend he knew everything; he'd used Rasiel's power to locate her.
The next day, aboard the Fraxinus, they all headed into space together.
"So this is… space?"
"It's so beautiful…"
Seeing such an unreal sight, Tohka and the others couldn't help holding their breath.
Through the main forward viewport, endless blackness stretched out before them. But amidst that darkness, countless points of light glittered.
Stars.
"Is that our planet?"
"It's so pretty!"
"Amazing…"
In a smaller rear-facing feed at the top right of the window, a sphere floated in the void—a swirling marble of white and blue.
Their home.
"So this is space…"
"Space is awesome!"
"Yeah," Shichen nodded.
It was his first time actually seeing space with his own eyes. Even compared to traveling between different worlds, this was in a category of its own.
The way heaven and earth were utterly separated could only be understood by witnessing it directly.
Humans really were tiny.
"Look! Over there!" Tohka suddenly pointed at the viewport.
Everyone turned to follow her finger—and saw something even more unbelievable.
Right in the middle of that empty void, a single girl was floating there as if at ease.
In the pitch-black universe, she was dazzling.
What first caught the eye was her long hair, shining with a faint phosphorescent glow, as beautiful as starlight. Her golden hair drifted freely in zero gravity, so long it made one immediately think of the fairy-tale girl in the tower.
She wore a gorgeous dress decorated with patterns like constellations, and in her hand she held something that looked like a huge scepter.
Her face, clear even at this distance, was that of a young girl with her eyes closed: features delicate and perfect, like a princess out of a storybook.
Suspended in the mystery of space, that flawless appearance could only belong to a spirit.
"Onii-chan, this is the first spirit we ever confirmed, isn't it," Kotori said in surprise.
"Pretty much. After she became a spirit, she's stayed in space the whole time, so there was no way to find her," Shichen replied.
Everything he said came from Rasiel's records.
"I see… So what should we do? We don't know what her powers are, but if she can live out here, she must be really strong…"
"We'll just go ask her," Shichen said casually.
"Just… go? Is that okay? How about we try sending a projection first? Our projected holograms are good enough to pass as real people," Kotori suggested.
"No need," Shichen shook his head.
"I'll talk to her myself. Besides, she can't do anything to me."
"Shichen… want me to go with you?" Tohka asked anxiously.
"I'll be fine."
He rubbed her head and smiled. "Trust me."
"Mm… okay."
"You all don't need to worry either. Just trust me," he said, looking around at the others.
"Well, if you say so…"
"Be careful, Shichen!"
"Darling, safety first!"
"Onii-chan, don't overdo it."
"Shichen-nii…"
"Haha, relax."
Shichen reassured them, then immediately space-shifted out of the Fraxinus.
He needed to breathe, but with his body he could go quite a while without it. Even so, he erected a spatial barrier around himself just in case.
In an instant, he arrived in front of the girl.
Up close, he realized just how cute she really was.
She looked about fourteen or fifteen, already so stunning.
"Mm…?"
The girl seemed to have been sleeping for a very long time. With some effort, she opened her eyes, flexed her limbs a bit, then turned to look at him.
Seeing someone suddenly appear, she tilted her head and stared in confusion.
"Who art thou?"
"It's time to wake up, Mukuro," Shichen repeated.
"Who art thou?" Hoshimiya Mukuro frowned and asked.
"I'm your father," Shichen said.
~~~
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