Chapter 7 - Engage.

Ultron POV:

After agreeing on sharing information, both the and Honjo call a latte each, and then the moves to sit with us all.

"Time to discuss this, Fukun ~ What did you exactly know about her?"

"Ratatoskr."

"Hm?"

slightly raises her eyebrow with my words, seemingly confused by that. Honjo, on the other hand, just looks at me with curiosity as she plays with the cats.

What a boring reaction, thought she would be wiser than this...

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean what I said, high chance that she joined the Ratatoskr by now."

The girl Nightmare just stared blatantly at me with disbelief, seeming not that convinced with my revelation.

"... What makes you think that?"

"'Cause I knew her face. Her bare face."

"Wha—"

widened her eyes with disbelief with my casual answer.

"How? Why?"

"Got my own way. All I can say is that she's currently working with Ratatoskr, the rest you should be able to find out."

"..."

The girl fell silent with my response, seemingly thinking about her next course of action with the revelation...

"One more question, do you know where she lives?"

"... Unfortunately, I don't"

I lied once again, as I did know where she lived already. But I decided to keep this information from this girl for future bargains.

... So this is how it feels to lie? Not that bad in all honesty.

"I see."

And the girl, seemingly convinced with my lie, falls into silence as if to think of something, possibly about her next course of action I presume.

"... I'll look into them. Thank you for your help."

After a moment of silence, she bowed her head a little and responded to me with a grateful manner. So it seems that despite that maniac of her, she's in fact a calm person after all...

"Here's your order."

Just then, the previous waiter returns with the tray of our order and places them in front of Honjo and miss . They then proceed to take a small sip from the, as their face relieves a bit as if to enjoy the flavor.

Hm...

"So what now? You're just gonna continue with your pointless revenge?"

"That... none of your concern."

"I see... well okay."

The girl sneered back at me as she turned to the cats, without an ounce of care at my question, as I just shrugged it off. Not my problem if she desires nothing more than revenge, and as long as she stays in her line then I shall do the same.

The girl takes a glance at me with a hint of surprise, but then immediately shakes her head and turns to the cat, no longer gathering around Honjo and making sounds and approaching them.

But as she begins to approach them, all the cats suddenly scatter away from her, some of them even hissed back at her.

The girl momentarily dazed by their hostile reaction, as she then let out a sigh and turned to the counter to pay for the drink, not even caring to finish her own drink.

"'Till we meet again, Fukun."

Leaving such words back to me, the girls quickly left the store and disappeared into the crowd, leaving me and Honjo behind watching her back.

"... Are you sure letting her go is a great idea?"

"Yeah, not like we have business with her right now."

After seeing the girl totally vanish from our sight, Honjo suddenly turned to me with a question expression, as I just shrugged my shoulders and turned to observe the cats acting with each other.

Fascinating... so this is how they charmed humans to feed them...

3rd POV:

"Other me."

After walking away from the crowd for a bit and making sure no one's on her tail, the gothic girl mumbled to herself.

And, as if hearing of her call, another figure slowly rising from the gothic girl's shadow. The figure looks exactly like the goth girl, albeit wearing a crimson gothic dress and tie the hair in a twin tails style.

"Do you hear what that thing said?"

"Loud and clear, other me."

The twin tails giggle with a hint of saditism, while the other one is just silent as she thinks back on everything.

"Fufufu ~"

She chuckled.

"You are truly, truly interesting... Ultron-kun ~"

She silently glinted her eyes, as a faint glow flashes through her bang. Her chuckle slowly became louder with each passing moment.

It is obvious that she can't contain her joy, after all... she has a lead on that bastard of a being, one that she dedicated her entire life looking for.

When she thought everything was in vain, when she seemingly gave up... it showed up, stirring everything up and even giving her information that she desired for so long.

Even though the validity is still not clarified just yet, she at least has a lead with the First Spirit, the one that took everything from her, making her the way it is...

She can finally make a step in her plan to eradicate that insect in human skin, and bring an end to all these tragedies from ever happening...

"Continue on your supervision, other me... We can't let go of this one."

"Understand, other me."

With a slight smile, the one in crimson dress slowly sinks back into the shadow once again, leaving the girl alone in the alley.

"Kihihihi... I'm looking forward our future, Ultron-san ~"

The girl let out a small maniac chuckle, as she herself left the alleyway and joined the crowd once more with a newfound spirit.

... And yet, she failed to realize the presence of another important person, one that now looks at where she left with a shocking gaze.

"Is that... her?"

After a few moments of just standing gasping, the blue hair decided to report this to the , all the while still sticking his eyes on the duo...

Nia POV:

"Ku—Fuahahahah!!!"

"What's wrong?"

Looking at the thing holding all 4 limbs of the frustrated cat with one stretched hand, I let out an outburst.

Oh my god, seriously? It didn't know the most basic thing in holding a cat?

Despite its calming nature, it seems not to understand some of the most basic things... but I can't say that it wasn't hilarious to watch...

"You hold it all wrong, Fukun! You're supposed to hold it like this..."

I then take the cat back from the machine and hold it by the chest, and immediately rub it against my face, all while the thing's staring.

Ah ~ I missed this feeling ~ How soft ~

"Fascinating, so it includes cuddling with the cat too..."

With an emotionless voice, it seemingly noted my actions while just keeping watching with those... eh, I would say creepy if it was 5 years ago, but now the better term would be impassive eyes.

"Not really, knowing you I think you will just crush them with your strength."

I squinted my eyes and responded to it, all while still cuddling passionately with the cat... which kinda reminds me back to when I asked it to arm wrestle.

The result was pretty close, and I eventually went out victorious after shattering its arms. But still, to think its body could actually keep up with my boosted body... feels kinda right.

Hmph... wonder if I can ask for that...

"Fukun."

"Hm?"

I gently let the cat down, and it immediately ran away after letting out a growl, and turned to the thing now holding another cat on its lap.

"Can I ask you for something?"

"Sure thing."

I quickly take a glance around. Yosh, no one's here.

"Can I have a weapon?"

"... That?"

The thing, slightly tilting its head with an impassive expression as if curious about my purpose behind such a question.

"I could... but didn't you already have ?"

"Yeah but..."

A stream of those nightmare hells immediately replay back in my head, as it did countless times before. But I quickly shrugged them off, not wanting to indulge myself more into the past... at least for now.

"As you can probably tell, in itself didn't possess any offensive capability. It requires me to actively use it to see what the future may hold, and I can't really hold it on forever..."

Yeah... that's why those DEM can capture me in the first place. They waited until I let down my guard, and struck me down in a single decisive attack.

Despite being a Spirit, a being that can threaten the world, I'm the weakest one despite my amazing power in in terms of offense wise...

Besides, I don't really want to rely on all the time for some personal reasons as well... and it would be better to have other weapons coming in handy.

"What kind?"

"Hm... I would say for close-combat. With here I can practically make any ranged weapons ineffective, but close-combat is another thing."

"Okay, I'll start on it right away."

The thing slightly tilted its head as it closed the eye, as I finally relieved myself.

Although I didn't really trust this thing, asking it for a favor wouldn't be too bad... ignoring the fact that I practically rely on it as of recently...

... But still, relying on this walking catastrophe is miles better than sticking in that fricking prison any longer. And honestly, I don't really care about doing a favor for this thing.

And perhaps, just perhaps, I can find peace of mind after eradicating humans... and finally sleep again...

I ease my hand together, feeling them again after the torturous 5 years in their hands, experiences nothing less than torture, being just a toy for them to dumb everything on...

Honestly, the fact I didn't go insane after the first few days is a curse in itself... that means I can escape my suffering, to let myself be at ease...

Why did she choose me to hold such a curse? What did she see in me? What is her purpose?

... No use of thinking about that now. Even with this , I can't find out anything about her.

But still, if even my can't even search about her, then how can this thing? What is this thing still hiding?

... Forget it, there's no use thinking about that anymore. Besides, if this thing can get the information about her... then I can just use it to my advantage.

After all, isn't the only one that despises that demon in human skin...

"Interesting..."

As I was still deep within my own thoughts, its repetitive voice suddenly dragged me back to reality... one that made me burst out laughing.

The thing now brushing a cat by its lap as other cats scratch on its body, making it their personal scratcher... And to see it didn't react at all with those cats is truly a golden sight.

Fu ~ That honestly look hilarious ~

"Why did you laugh?"

"You should look at yourself right no—"

As I decided to tease with its nonchalant expression, all the while being the cat's personal playing... my view suddenly shifted, with the crowded surrounding suddenly transformed into a scene of the city.

This is... the hilltop park? How in the name of God am I—

—Wait!

"Um... hello there..."

An unfamiliar sound came from behind me, and I slowly turned to the source. Standing there is a boy with blue hair and brown eyes, wearing a hoodie with black trousers, looking nervous...

"Itsuka Shido..."

"Eh, you know my name?!"

... Damn it !

POV:

"Commander! Her mood started to decrease!"

"Tch..."

The twin tails staring with the screen with an annoying eyes, as everyone else frantically testing all options to keep everything going on,

Earlier...

"Commander, Shido calling for us."

"Let him through."

The bridge is now working on Shido's future date with the , but the atmosphere is kinda boring. Since they already finished the plan with the date already, they're currently just checking on the validity of each one once again.

Picking up the phone with a dissatisfied expression, the twin tails pick up the call.

"Hey there, Shido—"

[Kotori!! I see the Spirit from that day!!]

The boy, not letting her finish her greeting, suddenly bombarded her, and to an extent the whole bridge, with a clear statement.

"What?! Is it the ?!"

Her energy immediately returns, as she quickly commands a proper answer from her beloved brother, who's also their secret weapon.

"No!! It's the duo that's interrupting the AST!"

"Duo... and ?!"

The twin tails let out a distress scream, as everyone else begins to work their way according to Shido information. And as they fear, the whole thing is indeed as they thought it is.

Although their sensory system didn't pick up any Reiryoku, they still quickly found out the duo locations with Shido answer... and as it turns out the whole thing is real.

The returned Spirit, one that has disappeared from the face of the Earth for the past 5 years, and the , the additional anomaly that not even they understand how it worked, are now walking together in the city... as if they're in a da—

"Tch!! Shido, follow our instructions..."

The twin tails quickly issued yet another command to the other side, and without further questions everyone started to work according to the command.

Present...

"Finally got her..."

The twin tails let out a sigh of relief... although this isn't quite their catch. To forcefully get them away from their "date" is a crime in itself, and all of them despise being such a moodbreaker at that...

... But considering the fact that they can't seem to find the location for the past week, they have to tolerate their own principle and do this, all for a chance for Shido to "seal" her...

"Commander, the options are coming in."

Called by the black hair girl, as the new options suddenly pop on the screen.

The reason for the options is for Shido to increase the Spirit affections, so that Shio can seal them away given enough liking from the Spirit with him. And this is no different from what they intended... probably.

"Great! Now everyone, vote for the options!!"

Commanded by the twin tails, as everyone begins to make their choices. A few seconds later, the vote result came in, as the twin tails slightly frowning down.

(I hope this will work... This is our only shot at this!!)

With a newfound determination, the twin tails look straight at the screen as she responds back to Shido...

Nia POV:

(... Okay, now this is annoying.)

I thought to myself as I watched the boy dazed in place, clearly awaiting something in his micro-earbud.

Even though I already knew that the is quite ruthless, to think they outright "kidnap" me out of the blue... How bothersome.

If not for the fact that my possessed no offense, I would've destroyed this damn organization already...!

"Eto... Um..."

As I was frowning in my way, the boy finally spoke up with me. Took him long enough.

"Well... do you want to have... a date...?"

"A date...?"

What the... Seriously?! Not only did he take away my hangout, he had the guts to ask me for a date?!

What kind of NTR plot is this?! Did he have no shame?!

"No."

That's my final response to his nonsense plea, and I turn away from him... How the heck did the crew come up with such ridiculous plan is honestly beyond me—

"I... knew your pain."

I stop.

"I... can see the pain in your eye... Nia-san..."

I didn't move.

"I wanted... to save you... Please, let me try!"

I snap.

Those words... I've always longed for those words, for every moment in that hell. Yet, despite my deepest pleas, no one came.

I've been humiliated countless times, my dignity's been through mud under their hand, my body's been tainted by their lust...

And yet, this boy here, who has never been through any hardship, can shamelessly spill out such promises...

Ridiculous...

"."

With a simple whisper, a book suddenly appeared in my hand, surprising the boy in the process. But ignoring his reaction, I read the information provided by the book in a matter of seconds.

The reason for this is quite simple, I just wanna see how much he knows about my situation...

... And it seemed like he didn't know anything. Which is a surprise in itself, as the crew on the didn't tell him as he called out for the "pain" in my eyes.

So he knows a bit about my pain just by mere instinct alone... Impressive.

Although all things considered, that would be my only compliment for him.

After all, why would I want to be with a clueless brat, one that didn't even know his sister is a Spirit in the past 5 years?

So much for his so-called "brother bond" ...

"Itsuka Shido..."

A mundane voice slowly speaks up beside us all, as a familiar figure shows up floating in the air.

Well, it seems like my ride is here...

POV:

"No!!"

Scream the entire crew, watching as the damn have suddenly arrived at the duo place, without being recognized by their most up-to-dated sensor.

"... Seems like we have been hasty with this, after all."

The Head Analysis calmly gives her thought on this matter, which everyone else silently agrees, while the twin tails just staring blatantly at the screen, afraid for what will unfold...

Nia POV:

"You're fast."

"What can I say... I'm an urgent 'guy'."

Urgent... Yeah right.

"But to think that those fools resorted to such tactics... how uncivilized."

The thing snorted against the boy, as it slowly descended down beside me while the boy made a dumbfounded yet shocked expression.

"You know, since you guys are all a bunch of narcissists..."

As it slowly speaks up with seemingly no one, it suddenly turns to me.

"May I?"

"... Go for it."

I just shrugged my shoulders with its words, not really caring for its purpose.

"Since she didn't mind that, allow me to decimate your city."

"What?!"

Oh my, that escalated quickly. No complaints here though. And, ignoring the boy's confused face, the thing just simply snaps its finger...

POV:

"Commander!! The just activates on its own!!"

"WHAT?!"

A blaring alarm suddenly pops off throughout the advance ship, as everyone frantically tries to re-control back their second contingency for Shido, which to no avail.

To their horror, the satellite weapon slowly moves its pointer right on top of Tengu city and begins to charge its cannon with an enormous amount of energy, even more than its initial limit.

If this thing successfully releases the shot, the whole city could be wiped out in an instant... including Shido, who's still in the blast radius.

Additionally, somehow all their systems on board started to malfunction, with their teleporter the first to break down. Which means their option of saving Shido by bringing him on board the , has gone out of the window.

Their screen and audio, along with the communication network, are also cut off right after the teleporter, so they can't see the Shido situation anymore, or even warn him about the initial strike.

"Seems like there's no other way..."

Bite off the last piece of her lollipop, the twins' tails quickly make her way out of the bridge with a serious expression...