Kotori didn't know what to make of the boy before her and wasn't that strange as well? For all that he was beautiful—yes, beautiful—he was a boy, if she wasn't in commander mode, she would have been gawking or maybe trying to sneak a peak under his dress.
Shiori mistaking him as a girl was definitely warranted. Other than the fact that Spirits are supposed to be girls, his appearance didn't suggest masculinity in anyway.
Slender fingers held onto the notepad, his legs, barefooted, were delicate like a doll's. It didn't make sense, he had an appearance that seemed like it was crafted specifically to be feminine but yet he had insisted he was a boy.
Did he though? He had only mentioned that he was pretty sure he was a boy, that's another thing of note to worry about. That statement suggested that he had memories of being a boy, he had previous memories. Something that Tohka and Yoshino did not have.
Perhaps he might be able to share some insight on that.
Threads of long purplish white hair swayed as he took the seat before her, his green eyes with golden cross-shaped pupils carried a mystic yet intense gaze as he studied the room.
From what she had observed so far, the boy's expression did not change much and neither did his emotions.
Reine stood behind her with a tablet on her hands while she sat on a swivel chair before him, legs crossed and a chupa chups in her mouth.
The situation with him was especially complicated in that, he was in the ship with them and he was a boy, no matter how you look at it, it would take a miracle to seal him, if he can even be sealed that is.
Kotori took out her candy. "Alright, let's cut to the chase. Who are you?" She asked as she watched him intently. Reine was still monitoring his emotions and a spike of it might be more answer than he would be able to give.
He scribbled on the note before him.
[Miyuto.]
That was not really what she was asking and he seems to realize that as he quickly wrote some more.
[Shizuka Miyuto… I would like to know what I am as well… you seem to know.]
Well, wasn't that lovely? But still, isn't that name a little bit close to home?
Kotori slid her sweet back into her mouth as she silently stared at him, he stared right back at her. She didn't know if it's guts or something else.
She sighed.
"You are what is called a Spirit. Although I've never seen nor heard of a male spirit before." Kotori admitted.
He scribbled again. [Spirit? As in ghost? I guess that makes sense since I remember dying… the afterlife doesn't look much different from earth though.]
Kotori gawked, and even the normally sleepy Reine seemed more awake.
"YOU REMEMBER DYING?!" Kotori yelled.
The boy, Miyuto blinked at her question and then nodded.
"Tha— wha… that does not make sense." Kotori said.
She would have started drawing theories about how spirits might actually be dead people… that is if she herself wasn't a spirit as well! And she sure as hell wasn't dead nor did she remember dying!
He started to scribble again but then Reine stepped forward and offered him a tablet. He looked at her and opened his mouth but quickly closed it.
Kotori watched as he took the phone and then tap a few times and then showed it to Reine. [Thank you] it said in bold letters.
"You really can't talk?" She found herself asking as Reine stepped back after nodding to him.
Tap, tap, tap. [I can speak… but whatever I say would happen… I don't know how I know that but I just do.]
That was scary, every spirit so far had some sort of ability that could be seen and usually expressive in nature—Tohka's sword, Yoshino's ice, her flames—but all he has to do was talk for his powers to activate? It was also a bit sad, if she was in his shoes, how would she feel about that, that she could no longer speak to her onee-chan with her voice anymore? That was…
Kotori quickly shook her head, right now she was strong, she was commander Kotori, it wasn't the time to ruminate on such topics.
She removed her sweet from her mouth. "Anyway, tell me more about this dying you say you remember."
[After you tell me what I am.]
They both held each other's gaze but honestly Kotori just found herself lost in his, it was unlike anything she had seen before, it really solidified the 'out of this world' air around him.
"Kotori." She heard Reine call out.
She blinked away the allure she had been caught in and then broke her sweet. That was Reine telling her that she shouldn't be making demands. "Fine…" She relented not only because of Reine but because of the boy as well, from what she's seen, he seemed like a pacifist like Yoshino, not only did he go with Shiori earlier, no questions asked, his first idea when facing the AST was not to hurt them but to prevent a battle from happening in the first place.
"Spirits are powerful life forms originating from another dimension. The reason and cause for why they appear in this world is not known but what is known is the disaster they cause. When a spirit arrives in this world, they create something called a space-quake. I'm sure you've seen the effect of it." For all that she said, there was no reaction on his face as he typed.
[The crater.]
Kotori nodded. "And the people in mecha suits that you saw back in the mall? AST or Anti-Spirit Team. They hunt down spirits before they can cause any more damage."
[I supposed that makes sense. This is the type of power that would scare anyone after all.] How he made typed text sound solemn, Kotori did not know.
He tapped again. [So, your organization protects the Spirits then?]
"Yes… alright your turn!" Kotori clapped her hands together.
He looked at her hesitatingly before typing out.
[Did anyone die when I appeared?]
Kotori blinked, would you look at that? He can be expressive after all.
"The space-quake alarms sounds before a Spirit appears, so residents are evacuated before then." Reine was the one who answered.
He looked at Reine for a bit. He has practically been stealing glances at her since they entered into the room. Did he know her? Kotori filed that thought for later.
"Alright, can you tell me what you remember?"
[Oh, of course.] If he was talking with his voice, Kotori assumed he would have stuttered.
Kotori and Reine listened as he talked about himself.
Shizuka Miyuto, seventeen years old, an older brother of two siblings, a boy and a girl, he had a disease and his family while financially stable, was not wealthy enough to pay for the treatment, due to his abrupt decline in health, his family had started falling apart, but yet even in grief and misery, bonds held stronger and his family with a smile and tears in their eyes didn't say goodbye, instead they said see you later.
[That's why… I vividly remember it all. So I don't really know how I got here…]
Kotori felt a knot in her stomach. She shouldn't have asked such an insensitive question, dammit.
"I'm sorry…" She said. "I shouldn't have asked that." She truly meant it too. Even though he supposedly passed away peacefully, reminding someone of their family that they saw just a few hours ago just felt terrible to her… especially knowing that he probably won't see them again.
While Kotori was thinking this, Reine walked over to him and started to pat his head.
"Wha…Reine…?" Kotori was surprised, she had never seen Reine take initiative like that before.
Kotori was not the only one who was surprised as Miyuto had gone stiff from her touch but then his shoulders drooped as if the tension just bled away from him.
Tap, tap, tap. [Thank you…] He said, a small smile on his face that even Kotori had trouble looking away from.
"It's fine." Reine replied as she went back to stand behind Kotori.
"I didn't think you would do something like that Reine." Kotori said.
"Do you want me to pat your head as well?" She asked.
Kotori blushed. "N-no way!"
Still embarrassed, Kotori looked back at Miyuto who was touching the spot where Reine had patted.
"Since you don't have anywhere to go, how about staying here for now? We can decide what to do about you later, for now, you can get your thoughts together." Kotori offered. Of course she was still going to get Shiori to try and seal him, from all the Spirits she's seen so far, his power was the most dangerous, and while she was sure he was someone who wouldn't cause harm with it, it was also a double edged sword in that, he could merely say a word by mistake and something irreversible will happen.
[Okay, thank you, Kotori.]
Kotori blinked. "You know my name?"
"Kotori, I called out your name earlier." Reine said flatly.
"O-oh." She tried to shrug it off but her red face betrayed her. "A-anyway, nice to meet you. I'm the captain on board."
He blinked, then looked at Reine as if asking for confirmation.
[Even though she is tiny?]
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Kotori fumed. How rude!
"Kotori is very competent—"
"Reine…"
"—So it does not matter if she's tiny."
"Hey! Don't agree with him!" Reine only smiled as she patted her head in response.
[Ummm. Can I meet Shiori?] The tapping of phone drew their attention.
Kotori thought about his request then eventually agreed as she stood up. "Why not? I have to see if she is awake anyways."
Miyuto stood up, following Kotori and Reine as they stepped towards the door.