At the end of all the dates, she appeared.
"Congratulations."
Her voice was calm, concise, yet brimming with emotion.
She was an enigmatic girl. Golden hair flowing, cherry-blossom eyes fixed on Shidou. Beautiful, ethereal—and layered with an uncanny sense of déjà vu. Shidou shouldn't know her. Yet, somehow, he felt he did.
"As expected… it seems there's no need for me or to take the stage," she said.
"…?"
Hearing the name, Shidou tilted his head. But in that moment, Kurumi's theories and possibilities flooded his mind. The reason only he and Kurumi could see her, while Tohka couldn't. The spiritual sphere's concealment—an angel.
"…! That sphere—it's your angel!?"
"In your terms, that's correct," she replied with a faint smile.
"Tell me!" Shidou pressed. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"
What was the purpose of the spiritual sphere? Why had she appeared? What did she mean by 's "turn"? And why did she say "as expected," as if she'd known all along?
"I am the administrator of . The one to judge you, Itsuka Shidou—"
She met his questions head-on, explaining the meaning of all the dates tied to the spiritual sphere. And then—
"My name is… Mayuri."
The beginning of an encounter—and a farewell.
When the white-clad girl stepped into the scene, Shidou and Mayuri's conversation was about to begin. In that brief moment, her entire existence was encapsulated.
"…How selfish of me," she murmured.
Knowing Mayuri would vanish, she chose not to save her. Yet she hoped Mayuri would at least meet him before her end. Far from kindness, it was pure egoism. Still, she couldn't bear the thought of Mayuri's feelings fading unknown.
"Oh, it's the passerby!"
"Hello, Tohka Yatogami. It's good to see everyone else doing well too," the white-clad girl replied.
As she approached a bench near where Shidou and Mayuri spoke, Tohka noticed her and waved energetically. The white-clad girl waved back.
"…H-Hello…"
"…Can't you make your presence a bit more obvious?"
"Agreed. Appearing so suddenly might make Kaguya, who's afraid of ghosts, cry."
"Hey, I'm not afraid! You're the one scared, Yuzuru!"
The other Spirits, except Kotori on , hadn't noticed her at first. Startled but familiar from their prior encounter, they reacted casually, each in their own way. Miku, however, trembled as if struck by lightning. The white-clad girl tilted her head, puzzled, but brushed it off and spoke.
"My apologies. It's one of my few traits. So, Tohka Yatogami, did you enjoy today's date?"
"Mm? Of course!"
Tohka's unclouded joy brought a hidden smile to the white-clad girl's face. Ending her date at this hilltop park, so significant to Tohka, eased any worries. But Tohka puffed her cheeks, adding, "But…"
"Origami Tobiichi's interference was annoying. What's with her?"
"…Oh, her. Think of her as a sudden typhoon."
Recalling Origami crashing Shidou and Tohka's meal, the white-clad girl gave a wry smile. Escaping the hospital, pursued by colleagues, only to perform consecutive backflips like no patient could—Origami Tobiichi. Was she a machine? Yet, despite similar drives, she was nothing like Kurumi in that regard, much to the girl's relief.
"—Kyaaaa!"
Suddenly, something charged at her with a bizarre scream.
"Wha—!?"
It was likely the most rattled she'd ever been, aside from Kurumi-related matters. As a Spirit who could rival the Yamai sisters in speed, she could've dodged the full-throttle, superhumanly fast dive—part charge, part tackle, part lunge. But concern for the charger's safety made her stand her ground, catching—Miku Izayoi's hug.
"Aaah! As expected, so wonderful! Such a terrifyingly perfect hug! But this robe? Let's peel it off~"
"W-Wait, hold on! Please, wait!"
From embrace to cheek-rubbing, Miku's blissful expression carried an unnerving intensity, even with her beauty. As she reached for the hood, panic set in. Screaming, the white-clad girl pushed Miku away, using her godly speed to hide behind Tohka.
"Aww, why run? Oh, but with Tohka too? That's not bad—it's perfect!"
"…This is nonsense. Incomprehensible. Tohka Yatogami, save me from that monster, please!"
"M-Mm, well…"
"…We've barely met, Miku Izayoi. What's with this sudden attack?"
Peeking fearfully from behind Tohka, the white-clad girl addressed Miku, who wiggled her hands with a beaming smile, ready to pounce.
They'd met only twice, exchanging no words. Why the hug? She hadn't even revealed her gender. What if she were a man?
"Well… my beauty sensor went off the charts! Like, 'This girl's incredible!'"
"…That's it?"
"Yup! But it's true, right? You must have the cutest face that'd make me faint! Show me, please!"
"No way! I'm confident in this, but I'm absolutely not showing!"
This—her face—she was confident in. She'd match even Kurumi's evaluation. No humility there. But that didn't mean she'd reveal it easily. A "beauty sensor" seeing through her angel? Absurd, unjust. She inwardly grumbled about Miku bending physical laws, ignoring her own Spirit antics.
Miku Izayoi had just been upgraded from "confusing" to "incomprehensible nemesis" in the white-clad girl's mind.
"Aww, so mean! Fine, I'll settle for a hot hug—here I go!"
"'Settle'!? That's not settling!" she cried, turning to the Yamai sisters. "Please, help!"
"What!? Don't drag us into this, fool!"
"Retreat. I sense grave danger."
"Yo, Yoshino! Space out and you'll get caught!"
"E-Eh…?"
As Yoshino glanced around in confusion, Miku, gleefully chasing, and the Yamai sisters, caught in the white-clad girl's escape, turned it into a chaotic game of tag.
"—What the heck!?"
Shidou's shout cut through the commotion.
Everyone except the white-clad girl tilted their heads, puzzled by his apparent one-sided conversation with the air.
"What's with darling?"
"Suspicion. He's been talking to himself."
"…It won't take long, I think," the white-clad girl said, regaining her composure.
Tohka, tilting her head curiously, asked, "Passerby, do you know what Shidou's doing?"
The white-clad girl shrugged. "…A little invisible date, perhaps."
"What do you mean, 'return to nothing'!?"
"Exactly that. When my role ends, I vanish. That's what I am."
"You're okay with that!?"
Mayuri revealed the truth. When a "vessel" amassed excessive spiritual energy, she, the "judge," was born. Her judgment complete, her role was done. All that remained was to decompose and return to nothing. To Shidou, it was incomprehensible, stated so matter-of-factly.
Not just incomprehensible—he refused to understand, to accept. That's why he raised his voice.
"There's no good or bad. I was made to fulfill this role."
"That's not something to just accept! There's no need for that!"
"No, it's necessary…"
"Necessary!? Why should disappearing be necessary!? I won't accept it!"
Mayuri shook her head, rejecting his stance. Choosing to vanish was right—she knew it. As the judge of the powerful "vessel" amassing spiritual energy, she was a bundle of multiple Spirits' energies. That was the simple answer.
In truth, Mayuri had no need to meet Shidou.
"…I knew you'd say that," she said.
"Wha—!?"
Light enveloped Mayuri. Shidou recognized it instantly—the glow of a Spirit donning their astral dress.
"Wait, Mayuri—!"
The light took form, wrapping around her. Like angelic wings, it shielded her from the spiritual pressure, transforming into solid matter before Shidou's eyes.
"I didn't need her to tell me," Mayuri said. "In the end… I wanted to talk to you."
Closing her eyes, memories flooded in like waves. Kaguya's, Miku's, Yoshino's, Yuzuru's, Kotori's, Tohka's—Kurumi's—beautiful dates with Shidou.
Incomparable, precious memories. Alongside her, she'd witnessed Shidou prove himself worthy of the "vessel" through his bonds with the Spirits.
Recalling them, Mayuri opened her eyes, a faint, sorrowful smile on her face, and took flight. A black dress, golden boots, white wings with horn-like structures adorned with multiple eyes, and four aurora-like wings. She ascended, as if an angel whose role was complete was leaving the earth.
"Mayuri!"
Shidou looked up desperately. It was enough—she had to believe it was enough. Talking to him, even briefly, was enough. Her feelings were fulfilled, she told herself.
"Goodbye… Shidou."
With heartfelt emotion, she called his name. Yes, as the "memories" promised, saying his name felt wonderful. This was the end. Mayuri would decompose, return to nothing—or so it should've been.
In that instant, light surged.
"…!?"
"What…!?"
A blinding light poured from above Mayuri, forcing even her to widen her eyes in shock alongside Shidou.
"What's that!?"
"Luminance. It's blinding…!"
Not just them—the Spirits gasped, recognizing the mysterious light from the spiritual sphere, which should've been invisible to them.
"No… way—!"
As the light faded, the transparent sphere shifted colors, mirroring the spiritual waves the white-clad girl had observed with Mayuri. Impossible—she was speechless. It shouldn't happen. Mayuri had just declared the judgment's end.
The sphere morphed, expanding and contracting—then the angel manifested.
Centered on the black sphere, it resembled a mechanical god, spreading four pairs of artificial wings, summoning chained tails and wheels racing through the air, fully revealing itself.
When deemed the "vessel" unworthy of spiritual energy, the angel of condemnation, , appeared to destroy it.
"!? Why!?"
Mayuri's question went unanswered by the angel, for it served not her, but—another her.
Thus, moved. The black sphere writhed, forming a hole as if taking aim. No—it had taken aim.
"Shidou!"
"Tch, this—!"
In an instant, the blue-white light converged. As the white-clad girl and the Spirits dashed forward—
BOOM!
The thunder of judgment shattered the earth.
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