"You... are you all Spirits?"
Following the voice in her heart, Tohka had come home with Ryuya and now saw the Yamai Sisters, Kurumi, and Nia.
Sensing the spiritual power of Spirits from these four, Tohka, who had never encountered her own kind since her birth, had so far only met people who wanted to take her life.
"Of course we are Spirits. And you? What's your name?"
Looking at Tohka curiously, Kurumi asked.
"Tohka. My name is Yatogami Tohka."
She had chatted briefly with Ryuya on the way back, learning his name and expressing her own desire for one. Hearing the name Ryuya gave her, Tohka was very pleased.
"Tohka? That's a lovely name, very much in Ryu's style."
Her eyes inadvertently swept over Yuzuru and Kaguya clinging to Ryuya's arms. Not particularly fond of the Yamai Sisters, Kurumi continued, "So, were you the one causing the recent Spacequakes, Tohka?"
"Spacequakes? What are those?"
Having no concept of Spacequakes, Tohka's exquisite face showed curious confusion upon hearing Kurumi's question.
"Spacequakes are the damage caused by the spatial fluctuations when we Spirits manifest in the real world!"
Expressing surprise that Tohka didn't even know this, Nia put away the anime on TV and input information about Spacequakes.
"Look, Tohka, this is a Spacequake."
"Seriously, you didn't know this? Are you an alien or something?"
Not answering Nia's question, Tohka watched the screen showing destroyed city buildings and countless ordinary people fleeing. It was the first time she had seen such scenes.
"My appearance... causes disasters like this?"
She never really understood why the beings called humans hated her so much, why everyone who saw her wanted to kill her. Before meeting Ryuya, Tohka thought all humans were unreasonable and evil.
But now, seeing the immense damage caused by Spacequakes, she realized for the first time that there might be a reason humans attacked her, 'If my every appearance brought such crisis, wasn't it normal for humans to resent me?'
Torn cities, ordinary people's lives derailed, cries for help from within ruins… experiences she had never been exposed to tormented Tohka's heart, causing her immense anguish.
Just as her eyes began to change, a warm embrace dispelled it all.
"The Spacequakes aren't your fault, Tohka."
Her bloodshot eyes gradually cleared, reflecting Ryuya's face.
Looking into the man's eyes, Tohka noticed the four other Spirits staring at her. They seemed surprised that a simple video could cause such a change in her.
"Tohka, remember this: there is no absolute good or evil in this world. The impact of the Spacequakes was not your intention. You don't need to blame yourself."
Ruffling Tohka's smooth hair, Ryuya hadn't expected a simple explanatory video about Spacequakes to trigger such a strong reaction in Tohka.
Indeed, Tohka, having just been born, knew no one. With no bonds whatsoever, everything around her was unfamiliar.
"Not my intention? No need to blame myself?"
Being held by Ryuya felt good. Craving this embrace, Tohka's emotions began to stabilize.
"Tohka, you... didn't know about Spacequakes before?" Kurumi asked curiously, looking at the emotionally stirred Tohka.
"Yeah, it's my first time meeting someone who doesn't even know their own appearance causes Spacequakes," Nia added habitually, trying to search for information about Tohka on Rasiel, but found nothing.
"I didn't know about Spacequakes, or about Spirits. I only knew that after I gained consciousness, many humans tried to hunt me down."
"Every time I appeared, I was pursued by humans. That life continued until I met you."
After thinking for a moment, Tohka gave her answer.
[Feeling great sympathy for Tohka's experiences, Kurumi, Nia, and the Yamai Sisters quickly accepted Tohka as a companion.]
[Of course, companion is companion, best friend is best friend, husband is husband. Usually, the Yamai Sisters, Kurumi, and Nia often competed for your affection. What they acknowledged now was Tohka as a companion, not as your lover.]
["We are friends?"]
[Having no friends, nor even the concept of friends, Tohka was still very excited upon hearing the answer 'friends.']
[She asked what friends do together, still wearing the powerful spiritual armor.]
["Tohka, your power is too unstable right now. Let me seal your spiritual power first."]
["Seal? Okay."]
[Without hesitation, accepting your proposal, Tohka, who trusted you deeply, didn't even question what 'seal' meant.]
[Obediently allowing you to seal her spiritual power, the armor created by her spiritual power also vanished.]
["Ahhhhhh!"]
[As her spiritual power disappeared, Tohka realized all her clothes were gone. Covering her eyes, she performed the ultimate version of 'burying one's head in the sand'.]
[Touched by Tohka's intellect, you felt that her behavior was, in some ways, really similar to Ishtar's. Both could be used as units of measurement. For example, Gilgamesh's intelligence equals ten Tohkas, Enkidu's equals fifteen Ishtars?]
[Having Tohka temporarily wear Kaguya's clothes, you announced that you would take Tohka out for a proper tour, to give her basic common knowledge about modern society and pick out some nice clothes for her.]
[However, because the Spacequake had just occurred today, major shopping malls in Tengu City wouldn't reopen so quickly. Staying home, Kurumi, Nia, and the Yamai Sisters took turns being Tohka's tutors, teaching her their own special skills.]
["Ooh, so this is manga?"]
["Kurumi, you're amazing! This food is so delicious, mmm!"]
["Kaguya too, is this the book you read? It's profound, I don't understand it."]
["Yuzuru, is this a massage? I want to give Ryu a massage too."]
[Learning many utterly useless things under the care of her four new sisters, you sighed looking at the naïve Tohka. You decided to enroll Tohka in school so she could experience the knowledge students need to learn.]
["School? What's that?"]
[Full of great curiosity about this 'school' you mentioned, Tohka fell asleep with such anticipation.]
[For her, it was the most peaceful sleep since her birth. However, there was one big problem, which was...]
["Hub... Hubby, gently."]
[Faintly hearing Kurumi's voice from the next room in her sleep, Tohka, unable to hear clearly, had no idea what was happening next door that night.]