Tengu City was shrouded in pitch-black skies. Rain poured relentlessly, hammering the asphalt and rooftops without pause.
WEEEEENG...!!!
Spirit attack warning sirens echoed throughout the district.
The citizens, trained for situations like this, moved quickly yet orderly, flocking toward the underground shelters.
High above the dark clouds, hidden from ordinary sight, the translucent silhouette of a massive airship hovered silently—Fraxinus, the headquarters of Ratatoskr.
Inside the main command room, holographic screens glowed on all sides. Operators sat at their stations, fingers dancing over control panels.
In the captain's chair sat a small girl with red twin-tail hair tied with black ribbons, her feet dangling above the floor.
She wore an oversized captain's jacket. Despite her cute face and large round eyes, her gaze was sharp and commanding.
Her favorite lollipop was perched faithfully in her mouth.
Kotori Itsuka.
"Report the situation," she said firmly.
"Spatial distortion detected in Sector 3. Intensity is steadily increasing," the operator replied.
Kotori crossed her arms. "AST units?"
"They're en route, no visual contact with the Spirit yet."
Kotori nodded slightly, then turned her head. "How's Shidou doing?"
Not far from her stood a tall, blond-haired man, his face handsome and well-groomed, yet his expression… far too serious for something utterly unnecessary.
He wore a full Ratatoskr military uniform.
Kannazuki Kyouhei.
"Shido-kun is in prime condition!" he reported with a voice brimming with military enthusiasm.
"However, the psychological pressure from the possibility of instant death by a Spirit could… increase his appeal to the girls!"
He hugged himself and swayed gently.
"This situation is actually a golden opportunity for extreme romance development—"
Kotori rubbed her temple. "…Concise."
"Heart rate stable. Ready to be deployed to the location at any time," Kannazuki continued, instantly snapping back into professional mode in a fraction of a second.
At the main analysis chair sat a woman with long, dark blue hair, her eyes half-closed, her expression flat as if she had never known a full night's sleep.
Reine Murasame.
"Shin's mental response is within safe limits," she said softly. "His condition is stable enough for contact procedures."
Kotori kept her eyes fixed on the main screen, a single brow raised.
Amid the pouring rain and a ten-meter-wide crater, a figure in a black robe adorned with silver stood motionless, as if the storm couldn't touch him at all.
Not AST.
Not a registered Spirit.
Not a normal human—clearly.
"Max zoom," Kotori commanded.
The image sharpened. The young man's white hair was soaked, his posture relaxed—too relaxed for someone who had just appeared amid a spatial distortion.
The data panel on the side of the screen remained blank.
Reine studied him longer than usual.
"No waveforms matching standard patterns… but the center of the distortion clearly originates from where he stands," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "…Who is he?"
No one had answered yet.
From the edge of the crater, someone ran through the rain, his coat flapping behind him. Dark blue hair, brown eyes, a school uniform.
Shido Itsuka.
He slowed down when the distance between them was only a few meters. His voice came through the intercom in his right ear.
"U-umm… Kotori," he said awkwardly, half whispering, half panicking. "What are the instructions? He's a guy… and I'm a normal guy too, okay?! This is outside the emergency dating curriculum, right?!"
The command room fell silent for a split second.
Several operators struggled to keep their expressions straight.
Kannazuki immediately straightened up. "An unforeseen situation! However, history has proven that love transcends the boundaries of form and—"
"Quiet," Kotori cut in flatly.
Shidou remained in the field, still waiting. Rain streamed from the edge of his hood.
"Hey, Kotori? You can hear me, right…?"
Kotori let out a long sigh through her nose.
"I hear you," she replied at last. "And that situation is exactly the problem."
She leaned back in the captain's chair.
"The target is unidentified. Shows no aggression. But he isn't leaving either. That means he's waiting for something… or someone."
His red eyes sharpened toward the screen.
"Shido. Standard procedure. Initial contact. Find out their identity, purpose, and whether they can be reasoned with."
A one-second pause.
"And stop focusing on their gender, idiot. Our mission is to save the world, not filter your personal preferences."
Shido took a breath, trying to calm himself even as the rain had already soaked half his clothes.
"O-okay… initial contact… normal communication…" he muttered under his breath, repeating Kotori's instructions like a calming mantra.
He stepped one pace closer.
"Umm, hello—"
"The sky is crying."
The voice cut him off first.
Shido stopped.
Aboard the Fraxinus, every operator fell silent. Only the sound of rain and the low hum of machinery remained.
On the screen, the young man in black robes slowly raised his left hand. Raindrops fell into his palm, flowing between his fingers as if he were feeling something unseen.
He tilted his face up toward the gray sky.
"This world is wounded," he continued softly, yet clearly enough for the surveillance microphones to catch it. "It screams in pain, manifesting as the wind."
The wind swirled through the crater, whipping the hem of his robe.
His gaze lowered, settling directly on Shido.
"Can you not hear it… O Spirit Guardian?"
Shido blinked.
"Sp—Spirit Guardian…? Me?" He awkwardly pointed at himself. "Wait, is that a new title? Kotori, since when did I get something that cool?!"
Kotori pressed her temple. "Focus, Shido."
Reine continued watching the screen, her expression faint but serious.
"The way he speaks… he's not like a typical Spirit. More like someone observing the world, not part of it."
Under the rain, Shido swallowed, then forced on the friendly smile he usually wore when facing Spirits.
"Well, I…" he said carefully, his voice nearly drowned out by the rainfall, "…I hear Kotori yelling more often than I hear the world screaming."
The intercom in his ear suddenly buzzed sharply with Kotori's voice.
"Gah—"
Shidou winced, reflexively lowering his head as he pressed a hand to the side of it. A sharp stab of pain pierced through him for a moment—then faded.
He inhaled, straightened up again, trying to act as if nothing had happened.
"But… if something's hurting," he continued, "maybe we can talk about it? My name's Shidou. Who are you?"
On the other side, Gabriel gave a faint smile, his expression calm—as if the heavy rain were nothing more than a stage curtain.
"A name is the meaning of one's existence," he said softly. "You may call me Ash—the pale mist that watches over the stars."
Shidou froze for half a second.
"…Okay, that's not a normal name," he muttered, then quickly stood up straighter. "A–Ash, right? I'm Shidou. Just a regular human. Not some kind of guardian of the world or anything."
Aboard the Fraxinus, Kannazuki leaned toward the screen, his eyes sparkling strangely.
"Ahh… mysterious, poetic, drenched under the rain… a cold-type character like this has such dangerously irresistible appeal—"
"Quiet," Kotori cut in flatly.
Reine kept her gaze on the monitor, her fingers moving slowly across the data panel. "The energy pattern around him is stable… but it's not Spirit Reiryoku. It's something else."
Down below, Gabriel lifted his face to the sky again. "It seems we have a guest," he said quietly. "Would you mind if Ash welcomes the newly arrived visitor?"
Shido blinked. "A guest?"
From the distance, a mechanical roar tore through the rain-soaked air.
WHOOSH—WHOOSH—WHOOSH—
Several armed silhouettes cut across the storm clouds — AST units in full Realizer combat gear.
Shido tensed. "Kotori— AST is here! He's probably not a Spirit, but they'll still shoot, right?! Should I—"
Before he could finish, Gabriel flicked the fingers of his right hand.
The wind twisted suddenly around Shido — not violently, but like a gentle vortex that could not be resisted.
"Eh—WAIT—?!"
His body lifted effortlessly, pushed away from the crater, carried by the current of air hundreds of meters in an instant before tumbling onto an empty road far from danger.
Aboard the Fraxinus, everyone blinked at once.
Kotori's eyes widened. "He moved Shido without hurting him…?!"
Reine narrowed her eyes. "Extremely precise air-vector control… without destructive fluctuation."
Back to the crater.
Gabriel stood alone in the rain.
The next second, AST units landed around him, energy weapons aimed, red targeting lights dancing across his body.
Yet the black-robed youth merely tilted his head slightly.
As if he were truly welcoming guests.
Rain hammered the asphalt, thin steam rising from the still-warm crater.
In the air, the AST units formed a semicircular combat formation.
An adult woman with brown hair and a firm gaze stepped slightly forward at the front line.
"Unknown target. Do not lower your guard," said Ryouko Kusakabe, her voice sharp over the comm channel. "Long-range attack first. Test his response."
Targeting lights flared.
The next instant, several missiles launched from their Realizer Units, slicing through the rain with trails of hot smoke.
In Gabriel's perception, the world fractured into slow, drifting fragments.
Layer upon layer of Gigan rings rotated calmly behind his bangs.
From the empty space beside his hand, a faint ripple spread—like the surface of disturbed water.
From it, he drew Ragnarok.
The pale white shovel emerged as if it had always been there, its red lines glowing dimly like circuits newly fed with power.
Gabriel spun his body once.
SLASH.
A streak of pale light swept through the air.
Every missile was cleanly severed before it could reach him, detonating midair into fireballs that were immediately battered by the heavy rain.
___
Author's Note:
This is currently the Origami loop timeline, so I intentionally didn't write Origami into the scene.
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