Ocean Park was a sprawling water park — the second largest of its kind in Japan, in fact — popular with families and couples alike. A former construction hangar for a now defunct AST equipment supplier, it boasted an array of indoor and outdoor attractions, from lazy rivers and water slides, to sauna and even spa facilities.
After five stations, Shidou and the others arrived at Eibu Station before being admitted into Ocean Park and being led to the changing rooms.
Sunlight filtered through the windows of the massive domed roof overhead, a slight breeze ruffling Shidou's swim jacket as he appraised the situation in the plaza outside the locker rooms while waiting for Kotori and the others.
It wouldn't be until next month that the outdoor section of the park opened but, given the size of the indoor portion and its amenities, there was no shortage of patrons visiting today. Luckily, it didn't seem too crowded, nothing at all like the people jostling and bumping he'd seen in online photos of the place.
Fiddling with the drawstring of his jacket, Shidou contemplated the distant familiarity of the situation.
How long had it been since they'd last gone swimming?
Just over six years ago, celebrating his graduation from elementary school. He remembered with a wistful smile getting in trouble for splashing water into Kotori's eyes.
Speaking of water...
"By the way, is it alright for me to wear the earpiece in water?"
"Yes, it's completely waterproof," Reine answered. "Just be careful not to let it pop out in the water."
"Oof, yeah, that'd be pretty bad."
"There you are, Shidou!"
"Don't let my sexy swimsuit dazzle ya too much, okay!"
Hearing those familiar voices, Shidou was greeted to the sight of Tohka and Yoshino, predictably wearing the swimsuits he'd bought for them.
Tohka had tied the sarong of her bikini a little high on her hip, but Shidou chose to let it slide. Compared to what some of the women here were wearing (or rather, what they weren't wearing), this was nothing. Yoshino, thankfully, was just wearing her one-piece with off-the-shoulder frills normally, and Yoshinon was in a simple red and white swim dress.
Compared to their naked dresses, the swimsuits weren't nearly as flashy, but the way they showed off the girl's bodies — Tohka's svelte curves and bouncy chest, Yoshino's petite figure and slender thighs — well, Shidou found himself very glad for the bagginess of his shorts.
"Wow! There are lakes and mountains inside a building!"
"There's so much water...!" Yoshino let out, practically buzzing with delight.
Tohka seized on the wave pool to the side, jabbing an outstretched finger at it.
"Shidou, am I allowed to go in that lake?"
"Yeah, sure." He smiled at her obvious enthusiasm.
Instantly, she zoomed over to the water, Yoshino in tow, her normal shyness completely eclipsed by the excitement of the moment.
Shidou stared after the two with the long-suffering fondness of a parent.
"Those two are as lively as ever, I see."
Behind him, Kotori's words voiced his thoughts with unexpected accuracy.
He turned and was treated to a sight that stole his breath away.
She was glancing off to the side, a signature chupa chups sucker nestled between her plump lips as she rested a hand on her side. Her swimsuit was a white two-piece with side-tie bottom and halter tube-top that dug into the flesh of her hips and chest in ways that were intensely distracting.
Whatever remark he was planning to make petered out on his lips as he just stared at Kotori.
"Chin, don't just stare. Compliment her."
At Reine's instruction, Shidou spluttered for a moment, completely tripping over his words.
"What's with the brain-dead look?" Kotori asked after a moment, smirking. "All the blood rushing southward?"
"Shit, you can see that?! I-I mean, I was just... speechless. You look really good in that swimsuit. I think it's really sexy, actually."
Kotori blinked at that, temporarily at a loss for words before her smirk returned, a little less teasing this time.
"...Not bad. Was that Reine or Kannazuki who instructed you to say that?"
Despite his Yoshino-level stuttering, Shidou had felt pretty good about his line delivery. Had she really seen through him that easily?
No, wait, how could he have forgotten?
Kotori wasn't just some girl, she was the one who'd taught him everything he knew about seduction. How in the world was he supposed to win over someone like that?
"Well, anyway," she twirled the lollipop between her lips. "if you like my swimsuit so much, then it should be easy for you to say what's so sexy about it, right?"
Shidou was in the middle of racking his brain for a response, when he finally realized just what exactly Kotori was doing.
This was a shit test.
During the initial stages of courtship, it wasn't unusual for one or both partners to throw curve balls like this in order to gauge the other's response. Kotori had clearly been doing several since the start of this date, and frankly Shidou was kind of failing them.
"I guess this is where we come in."
Thankfully, it seemed Reine had already caught onto this.
15,000 meters above, she was currently yawning as Kannazuki stood sternly at attention beside the captain's chair.
As the acting commander, he would typically be seated, but the man had complete faith in the return of his commander. And, more than that, he preferred to be sat on by her than sit in her chair anyway.
In any case, the main monitor of the bridge displayed three choices:
1. All of it! You're sexy no matter what you wear!
2. It looks simple, but the design is actually really sensual.
3. You bet. That developing chest is making me huff and puff.
"It is time for us to put our skills to the test— everyone, vote!"
Kannazuki issued the order, arm outstretched. The results came in shortly— one was the supermajority, with a few votes for two. There was not a single vote for three.
"She shouldn't feel bad after hearing number one," Minowa remarked.
"Right, number two suggests he's only paying attention to the swimsuit," Nakatsugawa agreed.
"And number three's just out of the question." That was Shiizaki.
"Hmm... That is reasonable." Kannazuki nodded deeply. "Shidou, number three!"
Immediately, the bridge erupted into outrage as the majority opinion was thrown out by the unchecked power of a single individual.
While that was happening, Shidou fought the urge to facepalm.
It was clearly an unhinged choice, but if that was one the Fraxinus' AI had come up with, it probably wasn't completely useless...
"If I had to say, then it's the way it highlights that developing chest of yours."
Somehow, someway, he delivered that line straight.
Kotori took this in, planting her hands on her hips and stalking up to Shidou one ominous step at at time.
"Really now? Your little sister's 'developing chest' has got you that turned on?"
As she said this, the shrill sound of the emergency alarm indicating a sharp drop in a spirit's mood values, or even that they were becoming hysterical, came through loud and clear.
"Chin, it's an emergency."
Was her response that bad? Shidou quickly scrambled to salvage the situation.
"Ah! Well, what I meant by that wa-"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by surprised shouting. The two of them whipped around to the source of the commotion.
It was the wave pool, a crowd having formed around what could only be described as a newly materialized skating rink in the pool. At the center of that rink was the actual source of the emergency— Yoshino, weeping as she wiped tears from her eyes.
"YOSHINO!"
Fifteen minutes later—
Shidou was currently seated at one of the outdoor tables, drying out the soaked Yoshinon with Kotori's portable hair dryer while Yoshino fretted over its condition. Tohka, who was shivering after rescuing the puppet from the water, watched on helplessly.
"I'm s-sorry." Yoshino apologized miserably. "We were p-playing and Yoshinon got knocked into the w-water and sank..."
"Everything turned out okay, so it's fine. Just... try to be more careful, okay?"
The wave pool had already been returned to normal (courtesy of some Ratatoskr plants), and apparently an acceptable cover story was being spun to explain away the incident. He did not envy whoever was in charge of that.
Anyway, Shidou finished blow-drying Yoshinon as Kotori arrived with a hot drink for Tohka, who quickly sucked it down while Yoshino returned her puppet to her left hand.
"Brrr!" Yoshinon shook like a dog. "Talk about an adventure! I thought I was a goner!"
"I'm sorry, Yoshinon..."
"Don't worry, don't worry! Nothing happened, so it's fine!"
Echoing Shidou's earlier statement, the puppet patted Yoshino's head.
"You know, we can borrow a few pool floats if you have trouble swimming?" Kotori remarked.
"Pool float?"
"Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn't know what those are..." She shook her head. "Come on, people, there's a rental place over there. We can borrow some."
Tohka and Yoshino made a beeline for the nearby kiosk, leaving Kotori with Shidou as he put away the hair dryer. Hands folded primly behind her back, she surreptitiously scooted over to him, bumping his shoulder with an elbow.
"Hey, so... was that thing you said, about my chest, did you say that because of the Fraxinus or...?"
Instinctively, he started, feeling called out again, but something about Kotori's voice made him rethink that reaction.
"No, that was me. My real feelings."
Even if it was the case, he couldn't just admit that he was saying something on Fraxinus' orders. Something like that would just kill the intimate mood he needed to create as a pickup artist.
"Is that so..." she considered his words, a blush on her cheeks. "Well, glad to hear it..."
Saying this, she went to catch up with the others, as Reine spoke up.
"That was very good, Chin. Kotori's very dominant, but she's also very submissive. If you can break through her defenses, then you'll pretty much be able to have your way with her."
Odd way to phrase it, but Shidou wasn't going to argue.
The real issue was how he was supposed to break through those defenses.
Based on how the date had gone so far, Kotori's indicators of interest were surprisingly strong, even after that major interruption just now. She was obviously giving him some openings to do his thing, which he really should have been making more use of. Then, should he focus more on kino escalation going forward?
It seemed like a good tactic, but there was still a part of him that just cringed at the idea of touching his sister like that.
Just keep in mind that she's your adoptive sister, not— wait, this isn't a porno!
Didn't the States have some prefecture that was famous for incest? What was their catchphrase, again? Roll... something or other.
Anyway, he couldn't just keep fumbling like this.
Making up his mind, Shidou returned their stuff to their pool lockers and came upon a strange sight.
Kotori and the others were at the pool floats kiosk as expected, but joining them was a trio of men, sporting bleached hair, tanned skin, and slick smiles. It felt like the intro scene to a bog-standard doujin manga.
"Hello! Hey, girls, where you from?"
"Is it just the three of you? Awfully lonely, huh?"
"How about hanging out with us for a bit?"
As they offered up time-tested pickup lines that could have been plucked straight from the ancient texts, Reine's voice came through his earpiece.
"A number of Ratatoskr personnel are mixed in the crowd today," she explained. "They've given us the perfect opportunity for a little demonstration of higher value."
Demonstration of higher value— the term for anything that made a guy look cool, hopefully resulting in increased attraction and interest from the target.
Seemed they were going for the classic hero shows up just in the nick of time when the girl is surrounded by a bunch of lecherous guys.
At the moment, Tohka seemed more concerned with managing the bashful Yoshino, while Kotori was having none of their shit.
"Get lost. I said we're not interested."
"Come on, just a little while!" One of the men grabbed hold of Kotori's wrist. "We'll have a lot of fun, I promise."
One of the men made eye contact with Shidou, flashing a smirk and beckoning him to step in.
Well, taking care of guys who wouldn't take no for an answer was a common trope in romances. Telling himself this, Shidou took a step forward.
"Hey, she said no, didn—"
"Third Mate Fumio Awashima." Kotori stared at the man gripping her wrist flatly, turning her gaze on the other two with him. "And Third Mates Yoshiharu Teshirogi, and Takashi Kawanishi. Hmm, you're disguises could use some work, but I'd give it a passing mark. The dialogue, though? Who wrote that drivel?"
The men all stepped back in sync.
"H-How did you recognize nobodies like us?"
"Nobodies?" Kotori balked at the suggestion. "As long as you're a member of Ratatoskr, you're family. Is there a parent alive who'd forget the face of their child?"
At her serious words, the servicemen all fell to their knees, tears streaming down their faces.
"C-Commander!"
"Think nothing of it. Take your leave."
"Yes!"
Bowing neatly, the men all marched off with rigid if passionate precision, the polar opposites of their characters just now, and returned from whence they'd come.
Shidou watched this all go down with a non-plussed expression as Tohka and Yoshino gushed over Kotori.
"Wow, what was that all about?"
"Kotori, you're... amazing!"
"In hindsight, we should have known something like this would happen." Reine remarked, the sound of her scratching her head in confusion coming through. "We made sure to use personnel she'd never met before, though..."
"Well, that's Kotori for you... Girl's mind is a steal trap."
Kotori had always gotten top marks on her grades, even after the time she'd become commander of the Fraxinus.
"That is true. We may have underestimated Kotori."
"So what are we gonna—"
"Hey, you can't be so blatant about your communication." That was Kotori, coming right up to him and poking him in the chest. "It's not a big deal with me, but what would you do if another spirit picked up on that? And in the first place, what were you doing leaving us unattended like that? You know you're supposed to prevent situations like that, right?"
Shidou suffered in silence as Kotori continually poked him throughout her lecture. He couldn't stand being talked down to like he was still a kid, but he couldn't really argue with her.
"Yeah, sorry. That was my mistake."
Before Kotori could continue grilling him, Tohka called out to them.
"Shidou, look! I'm floating!"
Nearby was Yoshino, looking elated, if a little more sedately than her friend.
It reminded him that he and Kotori hadn't even gotten in the water yet. The waterproof earpiece they'd given him was going to go unused at this rate.
As if on cue, said earpiece buzzed to life.
"Chin, we're preparing the next choices."
1. Splash together on the water slide while hugging her from behind!
2. Savor the excitement of mixed bathing by freshing up in the hot spring area!
3. Swing and sway in the wave pool! "I'll be your boat~!"
The choices displayed prominently on the main monitor, their results following soon after.
"I see, I see..." Kannazuki nodded to himself. "The water slide, huh..."
"It is a compromise, but they went all the way to Ocean Park. They have to at least take part in the star attraction." Mikimoto remarked.
"The hot springs is also a treasure, but it's not a place young people typically go at the park." Kawagoe nodded seriously.
"Vice-Commander, three is a no go. No three." Shiizaki added, just for good measure.
Kannazuki just laughed good-naturedly despite the glares of the entire crew directed his way.
"Oh, you guys! I may have been given discretionary power, but it's not like I would exercise that power just to make my own decisions!" He leaned forward, flipping the intercom's switch. "Shidou, three. Go to the wave pool, and you may become the Commander's b—"
Before he could finish this line, Nakatsugawa and Kawagoe leapt up from the lower deck and yanked him away from the mike.
"What is this— mutiny!?"
"Analyst Murasame! Now!" Minowa shouted over the chaos.
Reine, who looked ready to fall asleep despite all the commotion, perked up at her voice.
"...Mm? Oh. Chin, it's one. Go down the water slide with Kotori."
Shidou, who heard what sounded like a small-scale riot on the other end of the line, just sweat-dropped as he took this information in.
I am going to ignore that.
"Hey, Kotori, do you want to check out the water slide?"
He tossed a thumb back at the artificial mountain in the distance, a winding slide starting at the top and snaking around a pretty large selection of the park. In fact, the sound of a couple screaming above them in what he hoped was glee could be heard from a section of nearby slide, passing them by in a flash.
Kotori gave the thing a rather unimpressed look that made Shidou wonder if he'd made the wrong the suggestion, but in the end she just shrugged.
"Trying to get me wet, huh? A little cliché, but sure. Let's go."
She began striding in the direction of the water slide, Shidou watching on in with a slight frown.
So far, this felt more like a low-level supervisor escorting the regional manager around the store than an actual date.
Shidou made a move to follow her, but stopped when Tohka called after them.
"Hey, are you guys going somewhere!"
"Yeah, we're just going on the waterslide!"
"Waterslide?" Tohka glanced where Shidou was pointing. "Oh, that's what that is! I want to go too!"
So saying, she hiked up her inner tube and marched through the water towards Shidou and Kotori.
"Uh, wait, Tohka...!"
In order to make this feel more like a date, they needed some alone time together to build up any amount of sexual tension. Tohka or Yoshino tagging along would only make that harder.
The girl in question's face fell, apparently recognizing his "disapproving" tone.
"I can't go?"
"No, that's... I just mean you can't take your floaty with you on the slide."
He was such a soft touch. One glance at Tohka looking like a woebegone dog staring after its owner was all it took for Shidou to completely fold.
Well, he'd just make her go first, while Kotori and him went together.
Impatiently, Tohka began trying to remove her pool float. She struggled for a brief moment and then cleanly raised the inner tube over her head. Along with the top of her swimsuit.
"TOHKA!"
Shidou charged through the water over to the girl, who was blithely unconcerned with how exposed she was at the moment.
"Tohka, what did I say about making sure your bra is tied tightly!" He retrieved her top from the water. "Alright, lift your arms. I need to put your bra back on."
With some reluctance, she did as asked, a rare pout on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, I know you don't like bras, but we're in public..." he diligently did up her top. "Also, it looks very good on you."
"...Really?"
"Yep."
"Hehe... You also look good in your swimsuit, Shidou..."
"Oh? Well thank you." He glanced over to Yoshino, who was floating in circles nearby. "Do you want to come along too, Yoshino?"
With a solemn expression, the girl shook her head.
"It's... scary. Yoshinon might get lost again..."
"Is that so?" It sounded like losing Yoshinon had traumatized her a little. "Well, enjoy yourself until we come back. Do you mind looking after Tohka's floaty?"
Yoshino shook her head once more, taking the pool float under her watch with a seriousness that was honestly a little comical.
Taking in the sight with a soft smile, Shidou and Tohka joined up with Kotori, having watched their little exchange from the water's edge.
It took about twenty minutes to reach the top of the staircase built into the prop mountain, where an attendant was busily sending people down the water slide with all the fanfare of a military commander sending paratroopers out of an airplane.
Tohka was the first to get in position, patting her lap and looking back at Shidou expectantly.
He felt like normally it'd be the girl in the guy's lap, but whatever. He sat down in her lap, Tohka wrapping her arms around his torso and squeezing her body against his, pressing her still wet and slightly cold skin against his.
"This is gonna be so much fun!" She nestled her chin against his shoulder, practically buzzing with excitement.
"Yeah..."
Shidou was a little distracted at the moment, wondering how he was going to adjust the sudden boner in his pants without catching anyone's attention.
Was this a Pavlovian response?
No, anyone attracted to women would have gotten turned on in a position like this.
With a huff, Kotori stepped over them and sat down in Shidou's lap, settling into position with a little more movement than strictly necessary.
"This arrangement is kind of..."
Kotori glanced back at him.
"What's the matter? I'm sure this isn't new to you, right?" she smirked, grinding her ass against his crotch. "Besides, if this little guy is anything to go by, you seem pretty happy."
"That's—!"
"We good?" the attendant asked, apparently having grown tired of their waffling. "Alright, then go, go, go!"
"Alright, let's go!"
Laughing at his antics, Tohka catapulted them down the water slide, her superhuman spirit strength sending them hurtling through the water.
"YEAAAAH!"
"WAAAAAH!"
Shidou let out a very manly scream as they raced around the water park at dizzying speeds, his boner completely forgotten as they nearly slid out of the tube on several occasions. Before he knew it, he found himself holding onto Kotori half for his own sake and half for hers.
TOO FAST!
This is way too fast!
And not a second after this thought flashed through Shidou's mind, the trio went sailing over the final, most extreme bend into the open air—
Right into the slide's receiving pool.
Tohka was the first to resurface with a splash, laughing her head off as she readjusted her bottom, which was dangerously close to slipping down her legs.
"That was amazing! It was all like wooosh! And we were like gyaaah!"
Shidou was the next to come up, struggling to stand in the pool with Kotori clinging to him for dear life.
"Whew. I am never doing that again. Way too intense..."
He said this before noticing the way Kotori was shaking in his arms.
"H-Hey, are you...?"
At his concerned tone, she sprung away from him like she'd been burned, staring listlessly into the waist-deep water.
"My... My ribbons..."
For the first time, Shidou noticed that Kotori's hair was down. He quickly began searching the water for her ribbons, finding them floating near the bottom of the pool.
She snatched the ribbons from his hand when he offered them to her and turned her back on him, retying her twin-tails with a barely restrained desperation.
As she did this, Tohka waded up to them grinning ear-to-ear.
"Hey, you two, let's go back up there!"
"Uh, why don't you go first? We'll catch up to you."
While Tohka charged back up the water slide, Shidou watched over Kotori. When she finished, she took a few deep breaths to collect herself.
"So... do you mind explaining what happened?" Shidou asked carefully.
He thought she'd just been scared by flying off the slide, but it was clear from her reaction just now that it had far more to do with her ribbons than any threat to their lives.
"It's... nothing."
"That didn't seem like nothing."
Kotori didn't respond right away, and Shidou was about to let the matter go, when the girl started speaking again.
"It probably won't make any sense to you, but... I'm weak when I'm in white. I need to be strong right now, in black..."
She said only this, and began wading towards the water's edge, where Tohka and Yoshino were talking animatedly about the water slide.
Her words brought to mind her explanation months ago, when it was just him, Tohka, and Kotori in the Itsuka house. Back then, she'd described it as the white ribbons meaning she was off duty.
By extension, that meant the black ribbons were her on duty, but did that justify such an extreme reaction to losing them?
Shidou watched after Kotori, something else about her words standing out in his mind.
White is weak, huh...
He couldn't help but notice that her swimsuit was white.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
After that, things continued on at a stagnant pace. Even with all his pickup training, Shidou had been utterly unable to make any progress at all.
Currently, he and the others were seated at the park's food court, Tohka munching away at a mountain of clubhouse sandwiches while Yoshino worked on her (singular) sandwich. Kotori sat opposite him, legs crossed and chin in hand as she sipped at her smoothie, pointedly not making eye contact.
She looked positively grumpy.
It had been three hours since they'd arrived at Ocean Park, and despite ample amounts of aid from Ratatoskr, the situation had not changed one bit. Based on Kotori's demeanor right now, it was safe to say things might have even deteriorated.
Even the seating arrangement was inauspicious— with her straight across from him, like an interview. He hadn't meant it to be this way, but Tohka and Yoshino had gotten to the table first.
At the end of his rope, Shidou took a sip from his drink, hiding his mouth behind his hand.
"Reine. What are Kotori's mood and comfort values?"
"...Not declining, but not increasing either. No change at all."
Somehow, that was almost a relief after so many failed attempts to move Kotori in any way.
But seriously, not a single change at all?
He remembered thinking Kurumi was a tough nut to crack, but this was ridiculous. Compared to any other spirit, Ratatoskr had far more data to work with when it came to Kotori but, almost as if that data were working against them, it hadn't seem to do any good.
Was it just because she could see right through all his pickup techniques? Well then what was he supposed to do?
Shidou suppressed a sigh.
Kotori Itsuka was without a doubt his worst opponent yet.
Letting his gaze wander as he thought all this, Shidou's eyes met Kotori's while she was drinking from her straw and she began coughing.
"Kotori?"
She quickly waved him off, covering her cough as she stood up.
"It's—nothing! A bit just—went down the wrong pipe—!"
"W-Wait, where are you going?"
"Where do you think? To the bathroom, dumb ass."
Shidou withered under her unexpectedly harsh words, watching her leave in silence before letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Could that have been more awkward?
He almost missed the days when he was fending off her ridiculous innuendos.
At this rate, I'll never be able to seal her...
"...Shidou?"
Lifting his downcast gaze, Shidou saw the concerned faces of Tohka and Yoshino.
"Oh, sorry! Was I ruining the mood?
Tohka shook her head.
"I was just thinking that you've been really tense all day."
"You're too obvious, Shidou! You relaxed the second Kotori was gone!"
"Was... did you two get in a fight...?"
"No, that's... not it."
He started speaking without thinking, until recalling the argument they'd had after Kurumi had nearly taken his spirit powers, when he'd told Kotori he'd quit sealing spirits.
How could he have forgotten?
He'd said some hurtful things in the heat of the moment, and the next time they'd spoken to each other, it was only after Kotori had taken back her spirit powers.
Shidou had since reconsidered that rash decision but there was no way for Kotori to know that. Had that been weighing on her mind all this time?
Chest burning with guilt, he leapt to his feet, hands on the plastic table.
"Sorry, but I've gotta go to the restroom, too."
Hopefully, he could run into Kotori as she was returning and speak to her privately. As he walked, he pressed his earpiece.
"...Reine, you're monitoring my mental state too, right? Can you tell me what the data says about it?"
Normally, Shidou didn't feel the need to check his own values like this— he could sense his own mental state, after all. But right now, he needed to make use of every tool available to him.
"Ah, Shidou, Analyst Reine is away at the moment."
But instead of Reine's drowsy voice, it was Kannazuki that responded to him.
"O-Oh, she has?"
He was about to ask where she went when he came upon an odd scene— someone in a lab coat, kneeling just out of sight behind a pair of vending machines.
"Shidou, that's—!"
Kannazuki started to say something but stopped his rushed words when he realized Shidou had already begun to investigate the situation.
It was Kotori, and Reine, wearing a navy-blue one-piece under her lab coat. Her body was obscuring an open medical bag.
"Are you okay, Kotori?"
"Yeah... I'll make it..." Kotori sounded ragged, like she'd just run a mile. "But that was close. Please."
"We already gave you fifty times the normal dose this morning. Your body..."
A mirthless chuckle.
"I'm a spirit. Drugs aren't going to kill me."
Seconds of silence passed before Kotori continued, a desperate edge bleeding into her tone.
"...Please. I need to get back to my date with Shidou... with my brother... This might be my one and only chance. If this fails, I might never be myself again. Before that happens, I want to go on this date with my brother."
There was a long silence before the sound of equipment being prepared and a quiet, "Thank you, Reine..."
Shidou, who had listened to all of this, clenched his fist in desperation.
Now that Kotori's spirit powers had returned to her, she was in a constant battle with the destructive urges that welled up inside her. He knew she'd been locked away by herself in a strictly controlled area of the ship. He knew that tonight was as long as she could hold out against these urges.
He'd known all this, but he hadn't realized the situation was this dire.
When Reine caught sight of him, she didn't even act surprised.
"How much did you hear?"
"Reine... how long has Kotori been like that?"
"Since the moment she regained her spirit powers."
"Then why—"
"Kotori requested it," Reine stated flatly. "She didn't want us to tell anyone close to her. She didn't want you to date her out of pity."
She adjusted the raggedy teddy bear sitting in her coat pocket, crossing her arms and leveling a grave stare his way.
"So please, pretend you never saw any of this. For Kotori's sake."
And then, she left.
Shidou stood there, still as a statue, as he let everything that had just happened sink in.
The argument they had, as well as the threat of Kotori losing herself to her spirit powers. She'd just been planning to sit on all that and act like it was nothing?
Typical Kotori. She wanted him to avoid worrying about useless things. He wasn't worrying about useless things, though. He was worrying about her.
But if she'd made her mind up about that, then there was nothing he could about it, and if he stayed here he was only risking her coming across him, so he returned to the food court, where a veritable mountain of polished-off plates sat at their table.
"Oh, Shidou! That took a while." The culprit was busily sucking up her drink.
He gave a noncommittal answer and sat down at the table.
"Shidou? Is something wrong?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Shidou tried to wave off Tohka's concerns, to minimal success.
But, before the girl could press the matter—
"Oh, Tohka! Isn't the jungle cruise starting now?"
It was Yoshinon, reminding her of the tour down the lazy river she'd been eager to go on.
"Oh, yeah!" Tohka shot to her feet. "We're gonna miss it!"
She was about to rush off with Yoshino, when she noticed Shidou staying behind.
"Hmm? You're not coming Shidou?"
"Well, I gotta wait for Kotori, right? Besides, I need to talk with her about something, anyway."
"Ah, right. Well, catch up to us when you can, okay!"
"Will do."
Thankful for the chance alone with his thoughts, Shidou took full advantage of the opportunity.
Tohka was heading off, hand in hand with Yoshino, when the smaller girl looked back and let out a quiet, "Good luck..."
Shidou blinked at that, suddenly remembering how abrupt Yoshinon's reminder had been.
...Is she giving me and Kotori time alone?
His face settled into a gentle smile as he rested his weight on the table.
That girl's kindness was wasted on the likes of him.
Shidou was still waiting at the table when Kotori returned, picking up the pace a little when she noticed Tohka and Yoshino were missing.
"Whoops. Guess I took too much time there, huh?"
"Kotori, get ready." Shidou stood, hands on the tabletop. "We're going on some rides."
She was taken aback by the abrupt tone he said this with, raising an eyebrow before letting a smirk through her features.
"Fraxinus give you new instructions? Things aren't going well here, so move the set to a new venue? Well, I don't mi—"
"That's not it at all."
Facing her, Shidou fished something out of his jacket pocket.
"...Shidou?"
In his hands was his earpiece.
"I'm dropping the scripts, Kotori." Shidou set it on the table. "I'll seduce you my own way. Besides, I always liked the more romantic approach, anyway."
Kotori gawked at him for a beat before planting her hands on her hips in that way she sometimes did when she was testing someone.
"And what about Tohka and Yoshino?"
"They'll be fine. They're off enjoying themselves on the jungle cruise. Kannazuki's watching over them, too."
Before Kotori could offer more objections, Shidou took her by the waist, pulling her against his body.
"It's been ages since we were together like this, so let's enjoy it to our heart's content." He flashed her a mischievous grin. "Get ready, Kotori. I'm about to run you ragged."
Kotori let out a squeak at that, her whole body going red with blush, before Shidou began guiding them to their first thrill ride.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Yoshino, Yoshinon, and Tohka were lazily drifting down Ocean Park's sprawling lazy river. Tohka was enjoying the sights, sipping up the last of her smoothie before letting out a very unladylike burp, resting her arms on the backrest of the booth seat they were sitting in.
"Shidou was right! This jungle cruise thing is amazing!"
"The kid had the right idea!" Yoshinon joined in, sipping from Yoshino's drink. "Relaxing like this is the life!"
"It... really is fun."
"Mm-hmm. It would have been better if Shidou and Kotori had come with us, though..." Tohka stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Actually, why aren't they with us yet? I know, let's go find them!"
Mind made up, she sat up and made to leave. Yoshino, having overheard Shidou overhearing Reine and Kotori, went to stop Tohka, arms waving in a panic.
"Hmm? What is it, Yoshino? We should all be having fun together, right?"
"Thats... not...!"
"Say, Yoshino, are you trying to give Shidou alone time with Kotori?"
She'd already been found out!?
"It's okay," Tohka assured her. "It just seemed odd that you suddenly didn't want them to tag along, is all."
It was easy to forget, but this girl was pretty astute when it came to matters like this. It was probably better for Yoshino to come clean then, if she'd already been found out.
"Well, normally I wouldn't involve an uninvolved third-party like this, but it seems that Kotori's a spirit, and her spirit powers are starting to go haywire."
"...Shidou's trying to do... what he did for you and me. He wants to... he needs to seal Kotori's spirit powers..."
"We heard there's no telling what will happen to Kotori if he fails, so we thought we'd best keep clear."
Tohka took all this in, sitting down with a frown.
"I see... isn't there anything we can do for them? I owe Kotori for a lot, so I want to help her too. Also, it's almost like... she gives off the same scent as Shidou."
"Well, they do use the same shampoo!"
Tohka leveled an unimpressed stare Yoshinon's way as Yoshino spoke up.
"Right now... I think the best thing to do is... not get in the way... Let Shidou handle it... "
It was clear that didn't sit right with Tohka, but the girl eventually relented, flashing one of her signature smiles.
"Alright, then let's get the most out of this cruise! When Shidou and Kotori get back, we'll need to tell them all about it!"
"Of course! Let's make sure those two will be jealous at all the fun we had!"
"Mm-hmm!"
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
In addition to typical pools and slides, Ocean Park boasted a wide variety of rides and attractions. One of those was the Diver's Plunge, a pair of thirty meter high near vertical freefall body slides— a little like the water slide Shidou, Kotori, and Tohka had gone down from earlier, except about twenty meters taller.
Staring down the barrel of that behemoth, Shidou glanced over to Kotori, who was looking pale as a sheet after the umpteenth ride, her arms crossed over her chest like a corpse ready to be interred.
"You ready?"
At his slightly terrified smile, the girl just shook her head, too scared for words.
The very next instant, the ride's attendant released the barriers and sent them plummeting at terminal velocity, Kotori's scream and Shidou's laughter trailing them all the way down.
In all the emphasis on seduction techniques and sealing Kotori, he'd forgotten one very important truth.
Dates are about having fun with someone you love.
He remembered saying that line to Tohka, not so long ago. How quickly people forget things.
In light of that fact, he'd taken Kotori to half of the park's attractions, reveling in her over-the-top reactions and the rides themselves.
At the moment, he was leading a dazed Kotori out of the pool of the Diver's Plunge, laughing all the while.
"Man, that one was crazy! What ride should we check out next?"
"H-Hold it!"
"What, you mean the 'Hold on for Dear Life' ride?"
"No! I'm talking about... all this!" She threw her arms out. "You've been dragging me around all over this place, just going on rides and shit!"
At his girlfriend's rant, Shidou regarded her with a quizzical look, hand on hip as he cupped his chin.
"Hmm... I don't think you understand, Kotori. One of the most classic kinds of romantic dates is a couple going to the amusement park together. In fact, does not every young boy dream of eventually taking his girlfriend on the craziest, most extreme ride so that she clings to him!? Is there anything more romantic than that!?"
"H-His girlfriend?!"
"Yeah, that's what I said?" Shidou blinked, coming down from his romantic mania just now. "Are you not my girlfriend, Kotori?"
"I-I, well I mean—! Just saying it aloud like that is embarrassing, dumb ass!"
Her face totally flushed, Kotori stamped her foot in probably the most adorable tantrum Shidou had ever seen.
"But it's the truth... Do you hate being called my girlfriend that much?"
Despite the overacted sorrow in his voice, Kotori averted her gaze while fiddling with her hair.
"...t's fine..."
"Hmm? What's fine?"
"You little shit! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
Kotori rounded on him, hitting him as he just laughed.
"Haa... But yeah, do you want to get something to eat? I'm kind of hungry myself."
At this, Kotori furrowed her brow.
"Huh? We just ate. Like, an hour ago."
"More like two hours ago. And also, Tohka and Yoshino ate. We barely touched our plates."
As if to punctuate his statement, Kotori's stomach let out an embarrassingly loud grumble.
A few minutes later, the two were seated at one of the benches in the central plaza, munching away at a pair of jumbo-sized pretzels.
Things had been going swimmingly since Shidou had realized his mistake. He had half a mind to kick himself for not catching on sooner, but he supposed it was better late than never.
In any case, Tohka and Yoshino seemed to still be doing fine. Or at least, he hadn't noticed any sudden ice structures popping up since he'd left them to their own devices.
It was weird that Origami still hadn't shown up, come to think of it, or even texted him that she couldn't come.
A wry smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
Knowing her, that girl was probably observing him from some out-of-sight location, and he was about to get a full report of his movements during this date later tonight.
...
Wait, why am I treating that like it's something endearing?!
Beside him, Kotori finished up her pretzel, crumbling up the deli paper before tossing it in a nearby bin.
"Say... How long has it been since we were together like this?" she asked, an unusual, wistful tone to her voice.
"The last time we came here... it was five years ago, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, I remember you squirted water in my eye."
"That was an accident!"
"You put your hands under water, squeezed them together, and squirted water out of them by accident?" A chuckle. "Well, I'd hate to see what you'd do on purpose!"
They shared a moment of laughter before settling into a comfortable silence. Shidou leaning against the backrest and looked up at the sky above through the park's domed roof.
Five years ago, huh...
A lot of things had happened five years ago. Kotori becoming a spirit. The death of Origami's parents. Even their family visiting this water park. Was he just being superstitious, or were all these events too important to just write off as coincidence?
His train of thought was interrupted when he felt Kotori's hand rest atop his.
"Heh, what are you doing?"
"Nothing," Kotori answered evasively. "I just put my hand down and yours happened to be there."
"So you're saying, it was an accident?"
"Pfft!"
Kotori covered her mouth as if surprised by the sound she'd just made, her face going red with the laughter she was trying to contain. While she was distracted, Shidou laid his arm around her slender shoulders, scooching in close enough that their bodies were touching.
"W-What are you—"
"Accident."
"You can't call everything an accident, dummy!"
She chuckled as she said this, but made no effort to put any space between them, so they stayed like that for a while, enjoying the closeness of each other's bodies.
Maybe it was just the intimate atmosphere, not to mention the incredible view of her body he had right now, but Shidou could feel an unmistakable tightness growing in his pants.
"That an accident, too?"
"Uh, well... No, not at all. Sitting with my beautiful girlfriend like this, I think any guy would get a boner. It's just natural."
Kotori's body shuddered at those words, a breathy moan escaping her lips as she watched him adjust his pants to be a little more presentable out in public.
"...You really got hard for me, huh?"
"Honestly, I've kind of been struggling all day. You did not make it easy for me with that swimsuit."
"Heh. All this time, and all it took was a swimsuit..."
At Kotori's mumbled words, Shidou squeezed her shoulder.
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"...Nothing." She shook her head, raising it to look him in the eyes, only to blush again when she realized just how close they were.
She didn't pull away though, and neither did he.
Her lips parted, as if to say something, but no words came, and Shidou was stunned by the sight of those lips, his chest growing hot with the overwhelming urge to kiss them.
But, before he could act on that urge—
She kissed him.
With a passion and intensity and desperation Shidou could scarcely have imagined coming from Kotori, she kissed him.
The girl pushed her tongue deep into his throat as she crushed her body against his, gripping his trunks like they were the only things tethering her to the earth.
All at once, a dizzying array of sensations assaulted his mind.
The guilt of kissing the sister whom he'd grown up with. The undeniable lust generated by the friction between their bodies. And something Shidou couldn't quite place.
He was utterly lost in that moment, enraptured by the act.
When Kotori finally pulled away, she buried her head in his chest, her shoulders shaking from more than just catching her breath.
That was... incredible...
All this time, there'd been a part of him that believed Kotori didn't really harbor these kinds of feelings for him, that it was just an act or a phase or something, but there was no mistaking what had just happened.
His chest burned with an arousal that tented his swim trunks and urged him to take her right there and then. That irrational desire eventually gave way to reason, and Shidou set his palms on her shoulders.
"Kotori, I... I had no idea you felt this way about me."
"T-That's... because... I'ma... ere..."
"You're a what?"
"...I'm a stupid, useless tsundere of a girl who can't even express her feelings for the guy she likes!"
Her fists clenched at her sides, her shoulders trembled, as Kotori choked out words.
"I know we're brother and sister. I know it doesn't matter that we're not blood related. And I know that all you want is true love..." She pulled back to meet his gaze, tears in her eyes. "But these feelings are driving me crazy, and I can't keep ignoring them anymore!"
"Kotori..."
He'd never heard her talk like this. So tender and raw and weak— nothing at all like the Kotori he knew. How long had she felt this way?
Every one of the flirtations he'd written off as just childish plays at maturity hit him like a truck.
That was all real.
Kotori really, truly loved him as a man.
In light of the depth of those feelings, what could he possibly say?
Before Shidou could even begin to pull himself together, Kotori squirmed her way out of his grasp, shooting to her feet.
"God, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore..." She ran a hand through her hair, trying to comb out the knots. "Let's just get this over with. I heard Dream Park's been rebuilt and even renovat—"
Halfway through her words, everything became muffled, like he'd gotten water in his ears. He realized a second too late that that feeling was familiar—
Shidou was blinded by an explosion powerful enough that the sound all but deafened him, even through the safety of the territory that had been set up around him. Smoke and dust and debris obscured the scene outside the barrier, and engulfed him when it was released a second later, leaving him hacking and coughing.
The bench he and Kotori had been sitting at was neatly bisected, the exposed section — where she had been sitting — utterly annihilated. In its place was ruined brick and nothing else.
A familiar feeling of despair threatened to overwhelm him, before Shidou tried to force the feeling down.
Kotori had survived a point blank shot to the head. She had to be okay. She had to.
More importantly, who had done this?
He turned his mind to that question. Explosions didn't just happen. Someone had to have attacked them. And the only person who would target Kotori was...
"Shidou, it's dangerous here. Leave. Please."
As screams of terror filtered through the din, Origami's voice came through, flat and wooden like a doll's.
Shidou's gaze snapped up, to the source of that voice.
It was her, enveloped in a massive CR unit the likes of which he had never seen before, easily the size of a sedan, and sporting two massive cannons at either side.
Shidou clenched his fists, trying to keep his emotions in check as he called out to her.
"Origami... Do you know what you've just done..."
"Isn't it obvious? I've killed Ifrit."
"Killed me, huh? You make it sound so easy. Killing me."
The both of them started at those words, as the lingering smoke was whisked away to reveal Kotori, wreathed in an astral fire that restored her charred and damaged flesh even as she spoke.
"I thought you were smarter than this. Before any alarms sounded, before any civilians have even evacuated, you fired into a crowded area. You're insane."
From the intense flames emerged her naked dress, as well as the battleaxe she had wielded against Kurumi.
Origami just stared, seemingly unable to process the sight before her eyes. When words finally found her, they were dripping with hate, utterly different from anything Shidou had ever heard from her.
"I've found you! I've finally found you— Ifrit!"