"Sleep."
That voice that didn't sound like mine said, and the moment that word left my mouth, everyone who was present keeled over like puppets whose strings were abruptly cut.
The once noisy departmental store now lays eerily quiet, not even the voices from the blue haired girl, Shiori's ear piece could be heard.
Doing such a thing had been very easy, with just a single word, I feel like I could cause irreversible destruction… what a scary thing.
Why is someone allowed to have a power like this? I wondered as I stared at the sight of the sleeping girls before me.
The effect of the sleep is not permanent because I never intended for it to be, that's at least a saving grace.
Who are these people anyway?
With the exception of Shiori, the girls sleeping on the floor seems to be adorning futuristic technology that I've never seen before, or rather that I've only seen in fiction.
Was this a fictional world? Would that explain my newfound abilities?
There is also the fact that Shiori had not seemed that surprised when she found me inside a crater.
Is that sort of thing normal around here? Also why weren't there any humans around, except these girls?
I have a lot of questions and my inability to speak does not make it any easy.
Something else I noticed is that, despite the fact that these girls adorning futuristic mecha suits had pointed their guns in my direction, I didn't feel a sliver of fear.
That eerie calmness that I feel is actually quite scary. I had always been a laidback and calm person but this was on another level.
For now, the situation is obvious, Shiori had been trying to make conversation with me, while the other girls here seemed equip to eliminate a target which is most likely me.
So if there is likely anyone who could give me answers about what is going on, it's going to be Shiori.
With those thoughts, pen and paper still in my hand, I crouched down and picked her up in a bridal carry, straight long purplish white hair swaying with every moment.
My hair… has a different color than I remember and it was never this long either. If I stand upright, my hair reaches my knees but yet it doesn't actually cause me any trouble.
Another thing to note was my apparent increase in physical abilities, Shiori felt as light as feathers on my hands and I also had a feeling that it would take an awful lot to make me break a sweat.
Just what sort of existence am I now?
I guess I'll eventually find out, I think as I watch the sleeping face of Shiori, she looks peaceful sleeping like this.
Looking around the place, I don't really know where I am but for now, I should leave this area in case these girls somehow have reinforcements.
As I start to walk out of the complex, I glance back at the girls lying on the floor.
They will be fine, right?
•••
"Kotori…"
She stirs.
"Hey Kotori, wake up."
Raising her head from where she had been sleeping, she yawns then freezes.
She looks to the person who had woken her up.
Drowsy blue eyes surrounded by the telltale signs of lack of sleep, unkempt pale blue hair tied into a right-side ponytail, brown skirt and black heels with brown button up coat over white long sleeve. On her breast pocket is a small blue teddy bear.
"Reine! What happened?!" She asks worriedly, she had been talking to Shiori when she felt a wave of drowsiness that she couldn't fight.
Around her, the others in the command center seem to be stirring awake with the exception of Tohka and Yoshino.
"The Spirit used his power." Reine replies swiping through an iPad.
Yes, she remembers that.
The boy— Miyuto— had said 'sleep'.
Kotori unwraps one of her Chupa Chups stick sweet and puts it in her mouth, annoyance on her face.
"Kotori, send me down! I have to help Shiori!" Tohka yells, agitated.
"M-me too…" Yoshino says, voice barely above a whisper.
"Oho, it seems like we are doing a rescue operation, how exciting!" Yoshinon, the bunny adds excitedly.
"Calm down your horses, you guys." Kotori says— ignoring the "Yoshinon is a bunny!" quip— then looks back at Reine. "Are you saying his power affected us even though we are thousands of meters away from him?"
"Yes." Reine replies. "I don't think the distance matters, it seems like his power affected us because we heard his voice."
What? An ability that can put someone to sleep immediately, even spirits, and it doesn't seem like it needs a range. How far can he push such an ability? Is putting someone to sleep the only thing he could do? She doesn't want to think about any other usage because that would be…
"Terrifying…" The vice commander of the ship, a young man with long blonde hair finishes Kotori's thoughts, likely coming to the same conclusion.
"And what about Shiori?" Kotori asks.
"Shiori is not responding. It seems like the 'sleep' command affected her as well."
"Kotori, we have to go get Shiori." Tohka says, the look on her face says that she is seconds away from blasting a hold in the ship and shooting down to the city.
Kotori stands up from her chair, breaking her sweet with her teeth.
"Make a forced teleportation from Shiori's last location!" She commands.
"And also, transfer every details of what happened from when we fell asleep to me now!"
Looking at the display screen, she can see that the emotions of the Spirit, Miyuto is eerily stable which only makes her feel unease.
Since Shiori is inside a building and they are not able to get visuals on her, they have to make a forced teleportation using heat signatures to find her.
She doesn't want to think about what the AST would do if they get their hands on her sister and Tohka and Yoshino's emotions are already fluctuating.
"Shiori is onboa— ah." Kannazuki reports, showing a complicated face.
Tohka and Yoshino do not wait for him to finish as they run out of the room, going to meet Shiori.
"What do you mean 'ah?'" She asks him, narrowing her eyes.
"Well, it seems like the Spirit is onboard as well." He says scratching his head.
Kotori just sighs, already feeling a headache pounding in her head.
•••
Well, this is weird, I had been looking for a building to rest the sleeping Shiori and to also lay low when I felt a movement in space. I don't really know how I felt it but I just did, shortly after, I and Shiori found ourselves in a room that looks like it came out of a sci-fi movie.
That was teleportation, wasn't it? Something that is only seen in fiction. It also felt like I could have resisted it if I tried. What sort of world have I found myself in if people can teleport around like that?
"SHIORI!!!"
Abruptly, the door in front of me slid open and a girl rushed into the room, she was a beautiful girl with amethyst eyes and long purple hair styled in a ponytail with a red ribbon fashioned into a bow, despite that, her hair still fell freely to her knees and she was wearing a school uniform, the same type Shiori was wearing.
"Sh-shiori-san…"
Following that girl who seemed to be a bundle of energy was a small girl who looked very timid, if I was to use a word to describe her, I would use 'cute'. She was wearing a brown sun hat on her wavy blue hair and a green dress with a black collar with black shoes and white socks, she had blue eyes and on her left hand was a puppet bunny. Overall, she had an appearance that evoked protective instincts.
The purple haired girl walked closer to me, eyes still on Shiori at first and then looked at me. "Is she okay?"
She looked very impatient so I nodded at her.
She sighed in obvious relief and then reached a hand to carry her from me, I let her. Even though she looked impatient, there was genuine worry and care in her eyes, I realized.
Looking at the small blue haired girl, she shrank back a little, averting her gaze.
"So, are you an onee-san or an onii-san?" All of a sudden, the puppet bunny that was on her left hand… talked.
I was surprised.
The girl looked very timid and shy but she gets by, by doing ventriloquism?
That was… weird.
A part of me thought that was not correct. The voice from the bunny and the girl were not the same after all, or maybe she is such a pro that she can use a different voice for it.
Before I knew it, I was crouching before her and staring intently at the puppet.
"Kyaaaa, Yoshinon knows that she is very beautiful but if you stare at Yoshinon that much, she can't help but blush, you know." The puppet said, faking embarrassment.
A small smile crossed my lips as I started to write on the note on my hand.
[Sorry about that, you made me very curious… also I am pretty sure I am a boy.]
"You look very pretty for a boy though, onee-san… ah!" The bunny continued to call me onee-san, and not only that, it seems like she had reached a conclusion all by herself.
"Could it be that you are one of these femboys that have been getting—"
"Yoshinon!!" Before the bunny could finish the sentence, the blue haired girl quickly covered her mouth with her hand, a look of fear and embarrassment on her face.
I wrote on the book again and then poked the bunny on the cheek.
[I can't even argue with that, I don't really remember how I got there in that crater but I think I look different than I remember, Yoshinon, was it?]
The eyes of the blue haired girl seemed to soften at that admission.
"Ehhh, onee-san, you are already using first name basis for Yoshinon." She giggled. "Yoshinon doesn't hate it."
I-is a bunny flirting with me?
"Yoshino." The blue haired girl whispered and I looked at her with a head tilt, in response she held the tip of her sun hat and used it to cover her face. "My name is Yoshino." She repeated, introducing herself.
I wrote on my note again.
[I see, so you are Yoshinon…] I pointed at the bunny who nodded. [And then, you're Yoshino?] I pointed at the girl who nodded as well.
That is a lazy naming sense but looking at these two before me, I thought it was endearing.
I wrote again.
[Nice to meet you, Yoshino and Yoshinon, my name is Miyuto.]
"Then, Yoshinon will call you… Mimi-chan!" She said as she started to laugh again.
Ah, this bunny will never let it go, would she?
"I'm glad to see you are all getting along."
While the conversation between me and Yoshinon had been going on, it seemed like Tohka had left the room with Shiori and now two new people just walked inside the room.
The first person was a young girl, who looked like a middle schooler just like Yoshino, but while Yoshino would be described as 'cute', this new arrival had a sort of domineering air around her, long coral colored hair that was styled in twin tails with black bows, red eyes that burned with confidence, a red coat draped over a white uniform, a black tie with red sidelines, a red skirt and a pair of long, black boots that reached halfway up to her thighs. She had a pen with a squirrel head in her chest pocket and a stick sweet in her mouth.
The second person…
Before I knew it, I was standing faces inches apart from the woman who looked like she hadn't slept in days, staring straight into her eyes.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, unblinking.
Everyone else in the room was staring at the both of us.
I stepped back, a bit embarrassed then shook my head as I wrote on my book.
[Sorry, about that.] I apologized.
"What was that about?" The red haired girl muttered. "Anyway, come with me, there is something I would like to discuss with you." She said as she started to leave the room. "Yoshino, go and meet up with Tohka, she is in the medic bay with onee— Shiori."
Onee-chan… is Shiori her sibling?
"Okay…" "Yoshinon hears you loud and clear." Yoshino nodded while Yoshinon saluted.
As we left the room, now walking in the hallway that also had that futuristic look, the red haired girl was walking in front of me while the woman with pale blue hair was walking behind me.
I couldn't help stealing glances at her.
…Why did she feel familiar?