Ten days.
Ten nights.
I'd gotten used to going to bed with my heart half-cocked, waiting for the moment the world would tilt and I'd fall back into that... place.
The first time it had been violence and bone-white laughter—my skin prickling with the certainty that something was watching, judging, deciding.
The second time had started warm, almost stupidly warm, a tall happy skeleton grinning like an idiot—like a big brother who didn't know how to stop being kind—until the warmth bled out of the dream and the air turned thin and cold, like a room where something bad had happened and nobody wanted to say it out loud.
After that, I kept expecting the third.
Every night: futon, blanket, ceiling. I'd close my eyes and feel my body sink, and right there—right before sleep swallowed me—some part of me would tense.
Okay. Here it comes.
But it didn't.
No snow. No warmth. No voices. No bones. No stupid grins.
Just... normal sleep.
Which was the worst part.
Because a sane person would've been relieved.
And I was—mostly.
But there was a thin, ugly thread of disappointment I couldn't cut. Like those dreams had been a clue to something in me, something I didn't understand, and now the clue had been taken away.
I hated that. I hated myself for it.
I had enough to deal with already... Why do I care?
I rolled onto my side and stared at the faint line of morning light on my wall.
Normal. Fine. Great.
My stomach didn't agree.
It never did lately.
By the time I was pulling on my uniform, the "wrongness" came back in small, humiliating flickers.
The first was my mouth.
I caught my reflection in the mirror and saw a lazy grin tug at one corner of my lips—like my face was trying to make a joke I didn't understand.
I blinked.
The grin slipped away, as if it had never been there.
"Seriously?" I muttered at myself, lowering my eyebrows like that would intimidate my own expression.
Second was the... puns.
Not clever ones. Not "oh, that was smooth" ones. The kind of pun that made you want to delete language entirely.
I'd been noticing them in my head more and more, like my brain was collecting them, polishing them, savoring them.
Third—
Kotori.
Just thinking her name made something spike in my chest so hard it startled me. Protective. Fierce. Not loud enough to make me act weird, but loud enough to make my hands clench around my tie for a second.
Protect her.
I stood there, frozen, like someone had whispered it directly into my ear.
Then it faded.
I exhaled slowly.
"Okay," I told the empty room. "We're not doing this today."
My phone buzzed with a message from Kotori anyway—because of course it did.
'Don't be late'
No emoji. No explanation.
That was Kotori: a tiny slave driving tyrant
I grabbed my bag and left, trying not to think about dreams or grins or the way my own brain was quietly betraying me.
⸻
The "galge room" wasn't a real room, not in the sense that anyone at school would ever admit it existed.
It was the same one as the past ten days: too clean, too controlled, the air just a little too quiet, like it had been trained to behave.
I slipped inside and shut the door behind me.
Kotori was already there.
She was sitting in the room, legs crossed, on her lap like she'd been born holding it.
She looked up and gave me a disgusted look
"You're late."
"I'm not." I checked my phone instantly, as if my device would defend me. "I'm exactly on time."
"Your presence is late," Kotori said, as if that made sense. "You dragged your feet."
"I... did not."
"You did," she said, as if we were discussing the weather. "Your aura was complaining."
"My aura—"
Reine was sitting at the side table, as if she'd been part of the furniture all along. Her eyes were half-lidded, expression unchanged, holding a cup of something that looked like it shouldn't be legal to call "tea."
"Your pace was reduced by 12% from baseline," Reine said calmly. "You also stared into the distance for 1.7 seconds outside the door."
I stared at her.
"You timed my staring?"
"Yes."
"That's not normal."
Kotori tapped her clipboard. "Neither is your life. Sit. You're finishing the final route today."
My body sagged like she'd hit me with a bat.
"Please," I said, hands together like a prayer. "No more routes. I can't hear another 'Senpai~' in my brain without wanting to crawl into a hole."
Kotori's smirk deepened. "Then don't crawl. Run. Clear it. We move to real people after this."
I froze. "Real people."
Reine took a sip. "Real women."
I swallowed. "Why are you saying it like that."
Kotori leaned forward slightly, eyes bright with amusement. "Because it's funny."
I groaned and dropped into the chair in front of the console.
The monitor flashed, the same glossy interface as always: a romantic game world too bright and too cheerful to be trusted.
I took a deep breath.
"Okay," I muttered. "One more. One more and I'm free."
Kotori laughed softly. "You're never free."
The last training "beat" was a blur of dialogue trees and forced smiles.
Pick the "safe" option. Don't overcommit. Don't offend. Don't sound like a stalker. Don't sound like a robot. Don't sound like you're reading options on a screen.
Easy.
I ran through it on autopilot—because ten days of this had turned my brain into a Galge playing machine.
By the time the game's cheerful jingle played—
CLEAR!
—I almost cried.
I leaned back in my chair and let my forehead fall against the headrest.
"It's over," I whispered.
Kotori stood up like she'd been waiting for that exact moment. "Finally we can move onto the next phase"
Reine set her cup down and walked over.
"Congratulations," she said, in the tone of someone announcing a weather report. "Your success rate increased to acceptable levels."
"'Acceptable,'" I repeated weakly. "So comforting."
Kotori snapped her clipboard shut. "Now we do it for real."
My spine straightened. "Wait—now? Like... today today?"
Kotori's gave me a cold look. "Yes today, are you deaf perhaps idiot brother?"
I felt my eye twitch
I stared at her. "I need a break."
"No."
"I need water."
"No."
"I need—"
Reine reached into her pocket with serene inevitability and pulled out a small device.
An earpiece.
I blink.
"What is that..?" I question looking at it
Kotori held up one finger, lecturer mode. "This is your lifeline. Real-time coaching. Live instructions. You will listen and obey."
"That sounds like—"
"Like salvation," Kotori cut in. "Or failure. Depends on you."
Reine stepped close enough that I could smell faint soap and something neutral, like a hospital hallway. She lifted a hand.
I flinched. "Wait, wait—"
She slid the earpiece in with careful fingers, like she was fitting a piece of machinery.
It tickled. It was too intimate for how emotionless she was about it.
I jerked back the moment she withdrew her hand. "Okay. Okay. It's in."
Kotori watched, satisfied. "You'll hear us through that. Kotori Itsuka—your commander—will be guiding you."
"Commander?" I repeated, voice cracking. "Since when are you my—"
"Since I said so, and you don't have a choice anyway" she replied, smiling like a little devil
Reine spoke from behind her. "Don't touch it unless instructed."
"I wasn't going to—"
A faint buzzing drifted near my ear.
I turned my head and saw a tiny black speck floating in the air.
It looked like a fly.
It moved too smoothly to be a fly.
"Is that—"
Kotori leaned back against the wall like she was enjoying a show. "That's your camera drone. Our eyes. Our ears. This is how we're going to watch you"
The thing hovered closer. Instinctively, my hand twitched.
Kotori's voice sharpened. "Don't swat it."
"I wasn't going to swat it!"
"You were," Kotori said flatly.
Reine nodded. "Your wrist flexed."
I stared at both of them. "Do you people have hobbies. Like... other than watching my every move"
Kotori's smile returned. "This is my hobby."
"Please tell me you're joking."
"I'm not."
The drone hovered inches from my cheek. Its tiny lens caught the light.
I leaned away like it was contagious. "It's following me?"
"Yes," Kotori said. "Like a cute little guardian angel."
"It looks like a bug."
"Don't be rude," she replied. "It has feelings."
"It's a machine."
Kotori's eyes narrowed. "Too bad, it's gonna follow you and your gonna deal with it"
What a Tyrant..
Reine's calm voice slipped into my ear, now amplified through the earpiece.
"Audio test: receiving."
I jolted. "Ah—!"
Kotori nodded. "Good. You're connected."
I pressed my fingers against my ear without touching the device. "That's... weird."
"You'll get used to it," Reine said.
I did not like how confident she sounded.
Kotori pushed off the wall. "Alright. Training games are done. No more fake girls. We move on to the real-world test phase."
My mouth went dry. "You mean... I seriously have to flirt with people."
"Yes."
"In public."
"Yes."
"While you talk in my ear."
"Yes."
"And a robot fly watches me."
"Yes."
I stared at her. "Why do you hate me."
Kotori tilted her head. "Because it's funny."
"No, seriously."
She stepped closer until her eyes filled my vision. "Because if you don't learn to do this... people die."
Her voice was sharp, but her eyes didn't waver.
My joke died in my throat.
Then Kotori straightened and snapped back into her normal cruel-captain cadence like the serious moment had never existed. "Move."
I stood up because my legs knew obedience better than my brain did.
The fly-drone floated after me immediately.
I sighed. "I have a stalker bug."
Kotori's voice crackled in my ear. "Stop whining. Start walking. Target one is in the hallway."
⸻
Target one.
My homeroom teacher.
Because apparently the universe hated me personally.
I stepped into the hallway and immediately spotted her—Tamae-sensei—walking with that brisk teacher stride, folder tucked under her arm, glasses catching the light.
She looked normal.
Which, in my life, meant danger.
Sigh...
Here I go
I jogged up behind her and forced my voice into something that didn't sound like a hostage note.
"Tamae-sensei!"
She turned, surprised, then smiled. "Oh—Itsuka-kun. Good morning."
I smiled back "Good morning Tamae Sensei"
She looked at me curiously "Did you need something Itsuka-Kun?"
Kotori's voice in my ear: "Compliment. Now."
I swallowed. "Um well... Sensei."
"Yes?"
I searched her outfit like it was a bomb I had to defuse.
"Your... your clothes today look really nice."
Tamae blinked, then laughed softly. "Oh? Thank you. That's unexpected."
Kotori: "Good. Continue."
"Continue," I repeated faintly.
Kotori: "Don't repeat me out loud!"
I coughed. "I mean—uh—your hairstyle is also... really... neat."
Her smile widened. "My hairstyle?"
"Yeah," I said quickly. "And your glasses. They suit you."
Kotori: "Stop stacking! You're stacking!"
Reine: "Stacking compliments increases pressure. Lower rate."
I tried to stop.
I did.
For half a second.
Then panic shoved me forward again.
"And—your notebook," I blurted. "The way you organize it is really... impressive. Like, it's so tidy."
Tamae's cheeks colored faintly. "My... notebook?"
I was going to die.
"Notebook huh....." I heard a resounding sound of disappoint in Kotori's voice
"It's not my fault!, you two aren't even helping?!" I hissed.
Tamae leaned in slightly, amused. "Did you say something, Itsuka-kun?"
"Say school feels different lately" Reine chimes in on the earpiece
"No!" I said too fast. "I mean—yes—uh—school feels... different lately."
Her amusement softened into curiosity. "Different?"
Reine's voice in my ear, smooth and clinical: "Say: It's because of you."
My heart dropped.
Kotori: "Say it."
I stared at Tamae-sensei's face—kind, normal, human—and felt my soul try to crawl out of my body.
"Ah... it's because of you," I said, voice strangled.
Tamae went still.
For a second, she looked genuinely stunned.
Then her smile trembled.
"Because of... me?" she repeated, softer.
Kotori: "Good. Now—"
Reine: "Proceed to marriage keyword. Ask her to marry you."
I almost choked.
"What?! No!"
Kotori: "Do it."
"I can't just—!"
Reine's voice, calm as a scalpel: "Subject: Tamae. Age: 29. Status: single. High sensitivity to marriage-related prompts. Engagement phrase will produce strong emotional response."
"That's not a reason—!"
Kotori: "It's a reason. Say it."
Ten days of following the voice. Ten days of choosing the option. Ten days of being trained like a dog with a dialogue tree.
My mouth moved before my brain could save me.
"Sensei the thing is I... really want to marry you."
Silence.
Then—
Tamae's face lit up like someone had thrown gasoline on her emotions.
"Ah—!" she clasped her hands to her cheeks. "Marriage?! So suddenly?! But—Itsuka-kun, you're still in high school—!"
"I-I know but I would still like to make it work!" I yelled out with the last of my dignity
"It seems the affection levels are skyrocketing, at this rate..." Reina mutters over the earpiece
Kotori: "T-this shouldn't b-be... this is working a bit too well.. Abort!"
Too late.
Tamae surged forward like a tidal wave.
"Wait, wait—this is fate, isn't it?" she said, voice climbing. "I mean, I'll be thirty by the time you graduate—no, I'll be thirty soon—we can't waste time!"
I blink
What the fuck
"Sensei—please—"
"We should tell my parents," she continued, as if I wasn't speaking. "And your parents—oh, your sister! Kotori-chan, right? I'll have to win her over—"
Kotori's voice in my ear: "Don't you dare drag me into this!!!"
Tamae grabbed my sleeve. "We should start living together now!"
My soul left my body.
"Living—together—?!"
"Yes!" she said, eyes shining with terrifying determination. "Love is about commitment! About vows! About—about proving it!"
She leaned closer, voice dropping into something intense and almost reverent.
"We could... make a pact."
I swallowed. "A—pact?"
"There's a tool in the art room," she whispered. "We can use it to make a blood pact. Just a little. Just enough to seal our hearts."
My vision blurred.
Blood pact.
Art room tool.
This was not a dating sim.
This was a horror game.
Reine: "Abort immediately."
Kotori: "ABORT!"
"Sensei!" I said, yanking my arm free with frantic politeness. "I'm—so sorry—this was—um——"
"Itsuka-Kun??" Tamae blinked, smile faltering for the first time.
I panicked harder. "I mean—no—wait—!"
Kotori: "RUN."
"IM SORRY THIS IS GOING TOO FAST FOR ME!!!!" I shriek
I then ran.
I ran like the hallway was on fire and the fire had my name.
Behind me, Tamae's voice followed, wounded and still wildly committed.
"Itsuka-kun—wait—! We can discuss the details! I can be flexible about the living arrangements—!"
I did not look back.
Kotori's laughter erupted in my ear, sharp and delighted. "PFFT—HAHAHA—"
"You're laughing?!" I hissed between breaths. "You're laughing?!"
"You said you wanted to marry her!" Kotori squealed, barely coherent.
"I SAID WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO SAY!"
"And she went full blood pact! Oh my god—"
"I hate you," I gasped. "I hate you so much."
"Noted," Kotori said, still laughing. "Keep moving we need another target"
"No," I panted. "No. I'm done. I'm going to fake my death."
Reine's voice, calm: "You are not authorized to die."
"Then authorize it!"
I turned the corner too fast collided with someone.
We both fall backwards onto the floor..
"Ugh.... Who..?" I opened my eyes
Short silver hair.
Blank expression.
Origami Tobiichi.
Of course
And In this position I can see Ehrm... White
It makes me blush and scramble back to my feet ready to apologize
She just blinks. And gets back to her feet.
"S-sorry about that Origami.."
She gives me a blank look and shakes her head "No it's my fault, Good morning, Itsuka Shidou," she said.
My lungs forgot how to work.
Origami's presence always did that. Not because she was scary in the obvious way—but because she was scary in the quiet way. Like she could say something horrifying in the same tone someone else would use to order lunch.
Kotori's voice snapped into my ear, suddenly businesslike. "Switch targets. Practice on Origami. Now."
"Why is everything 'now' with you people," I muttered.
Origami tilted her head. "Who are you talking to?"
My stomach dropped.
"Oh—uh—no one."
Reine: "Say: you were thinking about her."
"What?! No!"
Kotori: "Do it."
I squeezed my eyes shut for half a second, then opened them and forced myself to look at Origami.
"I... was thinking about you," I said, like a man walking into his own grave.
Origami blinked once.
Then: "I was too."
My brain seized.
"You were... too?"
"Yes." She spoke like she was confirming the time. "I was."
That was worse than if she'd teased me.
"Why,"
Origami's gaze didn't waver. "Because you are interesting."
I didn't know if that was a compliment or a threat.
Kotori: "Next line: You look at her in class."
I swallowed. "I... look at you in class sometimes."
Origami nodded. "I do too."
I stared. "You—what—?"
"I look at you," she clarified, as if I were slow. "During class."
"...Why."
She just looks at me
"Okay..?"
Reine: "Say: you think of her a lot again."
I almost choked. "Reine, why."
Kotori: "Say it."
"But—"
Reine: "Say it."
My mouth moved because apparently I was a puppet now.
"I think of you a lot...."
There.
I said it.
It sounded like a serial killer's love confession.
I wanted to crawl into the floor.
Origami stared at me for a moment, expression unchanged.
Then she said, "I understand."
"You do?" I squeaked.
"Yes," she replied calmly. "I think of you a lot too"
I stopped breathing.
"What."
Origami's tone did not change. "I think of you all the time too"
My face ignited.
Kotori's voice in my ear: "She's accepting it. Continue."
"Stop saying 'continue' like I'm a game!" I hissed under my breath.
Origami tilted her head again. "Are you unwell?"
"No," I said too fast. "I'm fine."
She stared at me.
Then, very calmly: "You are not fine."
I wanted to scream.
Reine: "Proceed to next line."
I went cold. "No."
Kotori: "Yes."
"Absolutely not."
Reine: "Say: you smell her gym clothes."
Okay now this is ridiculous
"I will literally—"
Kotori: "Say it or I will make you regret refusing."
I didn't even know what that meant, and that was why it worked.
I swallowed so hard it hurt.
Origami watched me like she was waiting for a report.
"I... sometimes," I began, voice dying, "when you're not looking—"
Origami blinked once.
"I... smell your gym clothes."
Silence.
My soul left my body again.
Origami didn't flinch.
She didn't blush.
She didn't call the police.
She simply said nodded and said
"I do too."
I felt my entire nervous system short-circuit.
"You do too?!" I squeaked, voice cracking.
"Yes," Origami replied, as if we were discussing homework. "I smell gym clothes."
My brain tried to interpret that in a way that didn't ruin my life.
"Y-yours... right?" I asked, horrified.
Origami's eyes stayed on mine. "No."
I stopped existing for a second.
"...No?"
"I smell yours," Origami clarified.
I physically staggered.
My mouth opened and nothing came out except air.
Kotori's voice in my ear was screaming with laughter but trying to hide it. "—PFFT—DON'T—HAHA—"
Reine: "Proceed to next question. Ask her on a date."
I wanted to die again.
"Seriously.. isn't this moving too fast..?"
Kotori: "Yes we are certain. Ask."
I stared at Origami, who was still looking at me like this was all perfectly normal.
My voice came out as a whisper. "Do you... want to go on a date with me."
Origami's expression changed.
Not much.
A micro-shift—like a single pixel moved.
Then she said, "I'm fine with it."
My brain slammed into a wall.
"You're... fine with it?" I repeated, dumbly.
"Yes," Origami said. "I will date you."
My face went nuclear.
"Wait—when you say 'date,' do you mean—like—dating dating?" I stammered.
Origami nodded once. "Yes."
I made a strangled sound that was half cough, half scream.
Kotori's voice in my ear: "OH MY GOD IT WORKED—"
"Shut up!" I hissed.
Origami watched me calmly while my life collapsed.
"Itsuka Shidou," she said, as if helping me through a math problem, "you asked. Therefore, this is an accepted proposal."
"I—" I put a hand over my face. "I didn't—this wasn't—"
Origami's gaze softened by the tiniest margin. "Are you regretting it."
"No!" I blurted, then immediately regretted that too. "I mean—yes—no—ugh!"
How was I supposed to tell her I meant a date not dating?? Did she even know the difference?
Origami considered me for a moment.
Then, without warning, a sharp siren shrieked through the air.
Every speaker in the school crackled alive.
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!———
My blood turned to ice.
Origami's entire posture shifted in an instant.
Her eyes sharpened. Her body became AST.
She stepped back, hand already moving like she was reaching for gear that wasn't visible.
"Understood," she said flatly.
Then she looked at me one last time.
"Origami?" I say
"I have to go... Goodbye Shidou."
And she was gone—moving fast, precise, like a blade slipping into a sheath.
I stood there with the drone buzzing near my ear and the earpiece crackling with chaos.
Kotori's voice snapped into place, all laughter gone.
"Shidou. Report immediately. You're being called in."
My throat tightened.
"...Right," I whispered.
The siren kept screaming.
The air outside the windows shimmered like heat, like the world was about to split open again.
I started moving—because what else could I do—while my mind tried to catch up with the fact that my morning had included:
1. surviving a marriage blood pact proposal from my homeroom teacher, and
2. accidentally acquiring a girlfriend, apparently.
And now—
3. a spacequake.
Despite all of that
I ran.
The bug-drone followed.
And the screaming didn't stop.
The Spacequake alarm didn't sound like a school alarm.
It sounded like the world itself had decided to scream.
A harsh metallic wail ripped through the building, and the air changed—pressure pressing down on my ears, on my ribs, like the atmosphere had thickened.
Students froze.
Then the hallway exploded into motion—shouts, footsteps, lockers rattling as people slammed into them, teachers yelling directions that nobody listened to.
My earpiece clicked.
"Shidou," Kotori said, and her voice had lost every trace of smugness. "Move. Now."
"I am!" I shouted
I sprinted down the corridor, the fly-like camera buzzing at my shoulder like a tiny demon assigned to haunt me. I twitched, instinctively wanting to swat it away.
—and hands grabbed me.
Not gentle.
Not optional.
"Here!"
I didn't even get a full breath to protest before I was hauled forward, shoved through a transition I didn't understand, and the world snapped from school air to cold metal and humming lights.
Fraxinus.
My feet hit the floor hard enough that my knees buckled. I caught myself on the edge of a console, blinking like an idiot.
Kotori was already there. Center of the bridge. Commander stance. No wasted movement.
She didn't greet me.
She didn't tease me.
She just started.
"Okay. Listen." She pointed at the main screen as it came alive with a map. "Spirit Princess confirmed. Location is... unusually favorable."
The icon pulsed.
My school.
Specifically—my building.
My stomach dropped so hard it felt like it hit my shoes.
"In my school..? How is that favorable?"
Kotori kept talking like she was slicing reality into manageable pieces. "She manifested inside your school. That means you can get close without us throwing you into open terrain."
"If she appeared outside," one of the crew muttered, "we'd have to rush you in and—"
Kotori finished the thought without looking at him. "—and pray. That's what we'd have to do. Rush you in and pray you survive long enough to talk."
I opened my mouth, then shut it again.
Because my throat had decided to stop cooperating.
Reine's voice came from beside Kotori, calm as always. "Probability of successful contact increases significantly with structural cover."
"Stop saying 'probability' like I'm a coin toss," I managed, voice cracking.
Kotori finally looked at me. Her eyes were sharp. "You're not a coin toss. You're the only option we have."
That should've made me feel important.
It mostly made me feel sick.
She snapped her fingers and the screen shifted—zooming in, highlighting a specific section of my school.
"Classroom 2–4," Kotori said. "That's where she is."
"...That's my classroom," I said.
"And you're familiar with it," Kotori replied. "Which makes it even better. You know the route. You know the room layout. You feel slightly more comfortable in it."
"I guess that makes sense..."
Kotori crossed her arms. "We're going to do this the same way as the simulations. Only now, if you mess up, you don't get a 'bad ending' screen—"
"I get chopped in half," I said flatly.
Kotori's mouth twitched. "Correct."
Then she turned slightly, and her voice shifted—just enough to tell me we were about to enter the part of the plan that made her personally happy.
"And because you are... you," she said, "we brought reinforcements."
I blinked. "Reinforcements?"
Four figures appeared on one of the side screens like a cursed lineup.
Kotori gestured toward them like she was presenting a prize.
"The Love Masters."
My soul tried to leave my body.
"...You're kidding."
Kotori smiled sweetly. "I'm not."
Reine spoke in her clinical tone, like reading a shopping list. "They possess extensive romantic experience."
Kotori added immediately, "In all the best ways possible."
" First one!" Kotori yells
"Bad Marriage.!"
"With a wealth of experience in marriage with Five marriages and Four divorces! He is a wealth of knowledge and experience on the art!"
I stared. "That's not— that's not a qualification, that's a warning label!"
"Second! Nail Knocker!"
".Uses voodoo doll magic to hurt the partners who betrayed her and specializes in cursed romance techniques!"
My skin crawled. "Why does that sound like— like a straw doll ritual?!"
"Third! Dimension Breaker!"
"Claims to have 'hundreds of brides.' Surpassed dimensional boundaries!"
I didn't even know what to say. My mouth opened and nothing came out.
"And finally on probation Minowa!"
"Due to her deep love she has a Restraining condition: cannot approach within 500 meters of her loved one!"
I slowly turned my head to Kotori.
"You brought me... four disasters," I whispered.
Kotori leaned in slightly, eyes gleaming. "We brought you four teachers."
I felt my knees go weak.
I actually sank down, palms hitting the floor like I'd been shot.
"This is it," I muttered. "This is where I die. I'm going to die because you people are insane."
Kotori pointed at me. "Stand up."
"I can't."
"Stand. Up."
"I'm going to be chopped in half!"
Kotori's eyes narrowed. "If you don't move, you'll be chopped in half without even trying. Now get up."
My body betrayed me and stood.
Kotori jabbed the screen again. "Listen. She's inside the building. That's your chance. Your job is contact and stabilization. You talk. You live. You make her listen."
"And if she doesn't?"
Kotori's answer was immediate. "Then you still talk until you can't."
" That's the plan..?" I mutter dejected
"Yup. Now get ready Idiot brother"
Oi I was gonna get killed!
"But Papyrus-"
My stomach twisted.
My world turned for a second breaking the moment
What..?
"What did you say..?" Kotori looked at me strangely
"E-Ehrm nothing..." I say trying to steady my voice
What did I just say..?
..Papyrus..?
So familiar...
Kotori just shot me a suspicious look but quickly dropped it
The crew strapped the earpiece connection tighter in my ear—static hissed, then cleared.
Kotori's voice came through clean.
"Deployment in thirty seconds."
My hands curled into fists without me meaning to.
The fly-camera hovered close, like it was watching my heartbeat.
"Shidou," Kotori said, lower now, sharper. "Do not touch the drone. Do not panic. And do not—"
"Die," I finished for her.
"...Yes," she said, like that was simply a practical instruction.
The world shifted again.
The school slammed back into existence around me—hallways emptied now, emergency lights blinking, distant booms shaking the building.
The air felt wrong. Like the building itself was holding its breath.
"Classroom 2–4," Kotori said in my ear. "Go."
I went.
My shoes hit tiles too loud.
The empty halls of my school felt strange to walk through especially during such a disaster
However despite everyting I felt... weirdly calm
My thoughts tried to splinter—
—until I reached the door.
It was half open.
Cold air leaked out like fog without fog.
And then I saw her.
A girl in a dress that didn't belong anywhere in a school. Long hair. Eyes that looked too old for her face. Power sitting on her shoulders like a crown made of violence.
The moment my shadow touched the doorway—
She noticed me and turned to me
Her beautiful purple hair dazzled me more than the first time, her purple orbs narrow at me in suspicion and hostility.
Then
She moved.
A black slash of motion.
My body reacted before my mind did.
I dodged.
The blade—that sword—cut air where my head had been.
The sound of it was wrong, like reality tearing.
I stumbled back, heart hammering, but the strangest part was—
I wasn't freezing with fear.
I should've been.
I should've been screaming inside.
I should also be in two piece's
Instead, some calm place in me just... adjusted.."
Huh maybe Kotori was right... maybe I really can do this
"Wait!" I shouted, hands up. "I'm not— I'm not here to hurt you!"
Her eyes narrowed. "Lies."
She lifted her weapon again, dark energy gathering.
"Stop!" I said fast, voice sharper than I felt. "Please— just listen for one second!"
She didn't drop her guard.
But she paused.
That pause was everything.
Her voice was low, suspicious. "Why are you here?"
This wasn't a menu.
This wasn't a prompt.
This was raw.
I swallowed hard and forced the words out with whatever honesty I had left.
"...I came here to help you."
Silence.
Her eyes searched my face like she was trying to find the trap inside me.
Then, sharp as a knife: "What is your name?"
My mouth went dry.
My name. My name.
It felt like stepping closer to something dangerous, because names meant existence, and existence meant attachment, and attachment meant—
I hesitated.
Not because I didn't know my name.
Because I didn't know if giving it would get me killed.
Before I could force it out—
My earpiece hissed.
Kotori's voice cut in. "Okay. Interface online. You stabilized her enough."
"...Interface?" I whispered.
A faint, unreal overlay flickered at the edge of my vision like a game screen trying to boot up.
Three options.
Actual choices.
I wanted to scream.
But I kept my face steady, because the girl was watching me like I was a bomb.
Kotori's voice was tight. "Don't stare. Pick."
The options shifted—guidance cycling fast until a line appeared that made my stomach twist:
Option 3: Before asking someone's name, you should state your own first...
My finger didn't exist in real life, but the selection felt like a pressure in my head.
I chose it.
"Before asking someone else's name, you should state your own.." I say calmly
I watched her.
Watched the way her shoulders tensed like she was bracing for betrayal.
And then she said—quietly, almost like it hurt:
"I... do not have one."
The words hit harder than the alarms.
Like she'd been living without the simplest thing humans gave each other.
A name.
My throat tightened.
I softened my voice automatically. "You... don't have a name?"
She shook her head once, small. "No."
Outside the room, a distant explosion rattled the windows.
She flinched—but she didn't raise her sword at me again.
Not yet.
The interface cycled more questions—gentler ones, ones built to build trust.
We moved through them slowly, her suspicion cracking in tiny, careful lines.
Then—after another exchange—she looked at me, eyes sharp again but not murderous.
"This place..." she starts "Where are we?"
"Ah? Here? Where we are right now?"
"Yes obviously here where else?.." she says with a huff
"Right... this place... is called a school..."
She blinked
" A school..?" She says softly
I nodded
"And what is this school for?" She asks again curious
"It's where kids called students like me meet to learn"
Her eyes widened "No way.... There's at least 40 desks in here... are they really all filled all the time..?"
I nodded "Yeah it's normal"
"Woah..." she said under her breathe..
"A name.." she mutters under her breath...
She looks at me
"You," she said. "Give me one."
I blinked. "What?"
"A name," she said, like it was a demand she'd been holding in her chest forever. "Give me a name."
My heart jumped.
In my ear, the bridge erupted into frantic whispers.
Kotori's voice cut through. "Okay. Naming sequence. Crew vote in progress."
"A—crew vote?" I hissed under my breath.
"Pick what we tell you," Kotori snapped. "Don't freestyle."
A name flashed in my head like it was being pushed through the connection.
Tome.
I swallowed, then said it carefully. "Then... Tome."
Her face twisted immediately like I'd handed her trash.
"Tome?" she repeated, disgust plain in her voice.
The interface—whatever invisible meter existed—felt like it dropped off a cliff.
In my ear: PANIC.
"What did you do?!" someone shouted.
"She hates it!" another voice yelled.
Kotori hissed, "Shidou—fix it!"
I began to hear Kotori scold the supposed "Love master" becuase of his ridiculous choices for naming his children.
Tome...
I didn't even think.
The name wasn't her.
It was a committee label.
It was wrong.
"No," I said quickly, stepping closer like an idiot. "Wait— sorry. That— that was—"
Her eyes narrowed again, power rippling.
I raised my hands fast. "Listen. I— I want to give you a name that actually means something."
She hesitated.
Barely.
I took the smallest breath.
"The day I met you..." I said, voice steadying, "it was the tenth."
Her head tilted slightly.
"So I'll call you... Tohka."
The word hung in the air.
For a second, I thought she'd reject it too.
Then her posture shifted—just a little.
Like the blade in her chest loosened.
"...Tohka," she tested softly.
"Yes," I said, and something in me warmed. "Tohka."
Outside, gunfire started hammering closer—rapid pops, mechanical, relentless.
AST.
Tohka's eyes snapped toward the windows.
Her hand lifted—
—and a barrier slammed into existence around us, a shimmering wall that made the bullets outside hit like rain on glass.
The sound was insane.
Constant impact. Light flashing. Metal screaming.
Inside the barrier, it was... quieter.
Like we were sitting in the eye of a storm.
Tohka turned to me. "Leave."
My instinct screamed yes.
But before I could move, Kotori's voice came through my ear, sharp and immediate:
"Stay."
"What?!" I whispered.
"If you want to live, stay with her," Kotori said. "That barrier is the safest place you're going to get in that building."
Tohka frowned. "Who are you talking to?"
I froze.
Because she'd heard me whisper.
Kotori hissed, "Don't explain the ship. Don't explain anything. Just—sit."
...Sit?
I looked at the floor, then at Tohka, then at the bullets sparking off her barrier.
And I sat down.
Right there.
In the middle of the force field.
Tohka stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
I looked up at her and—without thinking—smiled warmly.
Not a grin. Not the weird creeping thing.
Just... a real smile.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"You... are strange," she said.
"Yeah," I breathed. "I've been told."
The bridge was silent in my ear for half a second, like they couldn't believe I was alive.
Then Kotori's voice returned—low, urgent.
"Okay. This is the calm window. You need to deepen the bond."
Tohka's gaze flicked to my ear again. Suspicious.
I swallowed.
My brain, for reasons I hated, offered up a terrible idea like it was a gift.
A pun.
The dumbest pun imaginable.
I tried to bury it.
It crawled back up.
I couldn't resist.
"Hey," I said, and Tohka looked at me.
"What?" She said
"Wanna hear a.... joke?" I say a grin slowly coming on
"Shidou don't you dare...." He heard Kotori in his ear
She tilts her head "A... Joke?"
I nodded "Yeah a joke, you know when Someone says something funny?"
"Funny..? These jokes are funny?" She said innocently
I nodded
"SHIDOU!" I flinched at her yell over the earpiece
"Can you... tell me one?" She asks...looking strangely vulnerable
I smile "Sure!"
The whole franxius was yelling me at this point but it was already primed and ready sorry.
"Hehe I mean she said YES so I have nooo other choice" I said into the mic
A real groaner instantly came to mind.
My smile widened
"Ready?" I say
"Mmm! Mm!" She nods enthusiastically
I cleared my throat.
"Knock knock."
She blinked. "Knock... knock?"
"Who's there?" I prompted.
"...Who is there?" she asked cautiously, like this might be a spell.
"Dishes."
"...Dishes?"
"Dishes who?"
I took a breath and committed the crime.
"Dishes a bad joke."
For a second there was nothing.
Then the bridge exploded in my ear.
"WHY WOULD YOU—"
"WHY DID HE—"
"Incremental improvement from last Pun—" said Reine neutrally amidst all the sound
Kotori's furious voice cut through them all. "YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!"
Tohka stared at me.
Then—
She laughed.
Not a polite chuckle.
A real laugh, bright and sudden, like the barrier around us wasn't even there.
It stunned me so hard I forgot the bullets.
She held her stomach like it hurt. "That was... stupid."
"Yeah," I admitted, heat climbing my face.
She laughed harder. "It is funny."
In my ear, stunned silence.
Then Kotori, through gritted teeth: "Unbelievable.... Her affection skyrocketed...."
"Hehe see? She likes my jokes!"
Tohka's laughter softened into a smile that looked unfamiliar on her face—like she hadn't used it much.
And then Kotori's voice sharpened again.
"Now you can do it now" she said. "Ask her."
My spine went cold. "Ask her what."
The bridge began chanting like a cult.
"DATE! DATE! DATE!"
I choked. "Are you serious?! A date?!"
"Do it!" Kotori snapped.
Tohka tilted her head. "What is... 'date'?"
Oh no.
Kotori's voice went rapid-fire in my ear. "Aquarium. Theater. Department store. Underground is safer. Pick something normal. Don't sound like you're luring her—"
Tohka's eyes narrowed again at my muttering.
I raised my hands defensively. "I'm not— I'm not planning to eliminate you!"
"What?" she said sharply.
"I mean— I'm not trying to trick you!"
Kotori screamed, "JUST ASK!"
I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted it out.
"N-next time... won't you go on a date with me?"
Tohka blinked slowly. "A... date is...?"
"It's—" I swallowed hard. "It's like... going somewhere together. Just us. Not fighting. Not... all of this."
Her gaze flicked to the bullets hitting her barrier, then back to me.
"...Why," she said, suspicious but quieter now, "would you want that?"
Because you're alone, I almost said.
Because you asked me for a name like it was oxygen.
Because when you laughed just now, it felt like the world stopped being a battlefield for half a second.
Instead I said, simpler, because simple was safer.
"Because I want to know you," I said. "More than... just this."
Tohka stared at me a long moment.
Then—
A sharp voice cut through the chaos outside.
"Spirit identified."
My blood turned to ice.
Tohka's head snapped toward the doorway.
I knew that voice.
Origami.
Kotori's voice came through, urgent. "AST unit has entered. Origami's in visual range."
Tohka stood so fast it felt like the air shifted.
Her barrier flickered.
Her hand reached—light and darkness twisting—
And Sandalphon appeared. The king of slaughter itself
A massive sword that made the room look smaller.
Her eyes weren't laughing anymore.
They were war.
Origami stepped into view like a machine given human skin, weapon raised, gaze locked past Tohka—
Straight to me for a fraction of a second.
She saw me and was surprised for a split second.
And then she moved.
Tohka slashed.
Origami met it.
The collision shook the room like thunder.
Kotori's voice went razor-sharp. "Extraction order. Now. Shidou, move!"
"I can't just—" I shouted, but another blast rocked the barrier and the floor jumped under me.
"Tohka can handle herself," Kotori snapped. "YOU CAN'T!"
I clenched my teeth, heart tearing in two directions.
Tohka didn't look back.
Origami didn't look back.
They were already a storm.
I backed toward the door, forced my legs to move, forced myself not to be stupid.
As I retreated, I caught one last glimpse—
Tohka's blade flashing.
Origami's calm eyes.
And the barrier cracking under the weight of war.
Hands grabbed me again in the hallway—Fraxinus retrieval. My world snapped—
Metal.
Lights.
Breath.
The bridge.
But the echo of her laughter—
and the way she'd whispered her new name—
stayed in my head like it had been carved there.
Tohka.
And "next time" wasn't a plan anymore.
It was a promise I'd already made.