—Aboard the aerial ship Fraxinus—

"—Well, this has turned into a real hassle."

The voice echoed through the ship from the captain's seat at the center of the command room.

Resting her cheek on her hand while leaning on the armrest of the chair, a middle school-aged girl—Kotori Itsuka—skillfully rolled a Chupa Chups lollipop in her mouth as she watched the monitor showing her stepbrother, their current target, and—

"To think Tohka was acquainted with that girl… and on good terms, too."

—her gaze shifted to the plain-looking girl beside the two on screen.

"It would be fantastic if we could capture both at once here… but it doesn’t seem that simple, does it?"

"...Currently, Tohka's favorability is good. However… no, Chitose's favorability hasn't shown any change since earlier."

Responding to Kotori’s words, the woman operating a terminal at a nearby seat—Reine Murasame—added in a supplementary tone.

Favorability. It was one of the necessary conditions to seal a Spirit’s power. When favorability was high and Shido performed that certain act with the target—though how it worked was still unclear—the Spirit’s power could be sealed.

Once sealed, a Spirit lost their transcendent power and became equivalent to an ordinary human, unable to manifest their Angel or Astral Dress, and thus no longer targeted by the organizations that sought to eradicate them. The very organization established to save them was this ship—Fraxinus.

And the Spirit who appeared this time—Tohka—was supposed to be their first War(date).

"...Additionally, we've confirmed that every time Chitose tries to distance herself from the two of them, Tohka’s mental state becomes unstable."

"So, to successfully capture Tohka, Chitose needs to be by her side?"

"...That’s right. If Chitose hadn’t appeared before the two of them, Shido alone might very well have been able to capture Tohka.… But it’s too late for that now."

"Good timing or bad… she really is troublesome in every way. You don’t suppose she appeared on purpose, do you?"

Kotori frowned. Chitose’s timing felt too perfect. To that, Reine calmly replied:

"...That’s unlikely. She has been intentionally avoiding interfering with their date since earlier. It seems she has given up on leaving them, probably thinking it would cause more problems. On top of that, she is even supporting Shido…"

While Chitose’s actions came from not wanting to upset Tohka, from the Fraxinus crew’s perspective, her current involvement was extremely helpful. If Chitose left regardless of Tohka’s mental state, this War(date) would likely end in failure. To that extent, Chitose was indispensable to Tohka.

On the monitor, Tohka and Shido were working together at a crane game—

"…………………………"

—while Chitose, nearby, fed 500-yen coins into another machine with an expression twisted as if she had bitten into something bitter.

"...Supporting?"

"..."

"Well… in terms of leaving them alone, she might be supporting them, I suppose."

Kotori voiced her doubt, but Reine fell silent. The long-haired man standing by Kotori—Kyouhei Kannazuki—added as if to help Reine:

"She is clearly lost in her own world. Also, where did all those 500-yen coins come from?"

"...Those clearly exceed the capacity of a normal wallet."

"By the looks of it, there must be hundreds of thousands of yen."

Indeed, five coin cups were stacked beside Chitose, all overflowing with 500-yen coins.

And yet—

Failure. Failure. Failure. Insert coin. Failure. Failure. Failure.

"D-dammit… sniff… I’ll definitely get it… I absolutely will… sob… I’ll get it for sure…"

Everyone fell silent as her coins gradually disappeared.

Kotori finally murmured:

"Even so… it’s puzzling."

Reine knew exactly what Kotori meant.

"...Is it that we still cannot detect any Spirit Power from her?"

"Bingo."

After her first manifestation, Chitose had overflowed with Spirit Power. But by the time she confronted the AST, she had suppressed it, and now—it was completely undetectable.

"What did she do…? Is she really the same Spirit?"

"Currently, the cause is unknown, but irregular readings appear at intervals. The quality of that power, however, confirms she is that Spirit. Her similarity to her manifested form reinforces this."

Kotori sighed. They couldn’t approach her recklessly—not with a personality like that, and not with that danger level.

Her behavior didn’t match common logic. To put it negatively, she was aberrant. Her rare words and actions seldom fit into any recognizable pattern. Therefore, they had to tread carefully.

The reason: her power.

"What should we do… If it weren’t for the danger of her 『Heart-Corroding Eyes』, we could have tested more options."

『Heart-Corroding Eyes』—a hypnotic ability capable of affecting anyone who saw her eyes. Victims remained comatose, relapsed, or behaved irrationally. If she ever used this power consciously, her danger rating would skyrocket.

They had to seal her. But her motives were unknown, so no one dared engage recklessly.

"Let’s set her aside. Tohka comes first."

They returned their focus to Tohka—

—and at that moment, Kannazuki stepped forward.

"She possesses wonderful qualities."

Kotori froze.

"Possessing the strength of a man while bearing the weakness of a woman… that means this!! She embodies both the sadistic and masochistic impulses of both sexes!!! The male urge to dominate!! The female desire to submit!! Her heart holds both—two orientations in one!!! A desire to make others kneel!!! A desire to kneel before others!!! She can enjoy pleasure from either role!!! Sometimes, her cold, merciless eyes glimpsed beneath her bangs awaken a masochistic thrill!! Other times, her plainness exposes her own weakness—"

Snap.

"Take him away."

"Commanderrrrrrrr!!! Have mercyyyyyyyy!!!!"

Dragged out screaming. No one cared.

"Reine. Prediction?"

"...Dreamland."

A hotel for deepening love.

Why were they heading there? And why did Tohka have a pair ticket?

Mikimoto, responsible for handing it out only when Shido and Tohka were alone, appeared on the monitor—empty-eyed, mentally broken, hair ruined.

Voices rose praising his dedication despite his shattered heart.

Kotori buried her face in her hands.

But Reine reminded her—

Their target was already at Dreamland.

Tohka’s favorability was fine.

Chitose’s mind was not.

She snapped, kicked Shido out of fury, Tohka tried to stop her, kicked Shido by accident, bones cracked, Shido collapsed again.

"...Kotori, what do we do?"

"…Candy~"

"Please stay sane."

As chaos unfolded, the Fraxinus crew missed it:

The white-haired girl who appeared for a moment—

Her eyes held unmistakable hostility.