My name is Shido Itsuka, and I'm just an ordinary second-year student at Raizen High School.
Well… at least, I thought I was ordinary. Lately, though, my life has been anything but. Surreal, bizarre, and downright unbelievable events have been piling up, making me question whether "ordinary" even applies to me anymore.
My parents left on a business trip a few months ago, leaving me to my studies while looking after my younger sister, Kotori, who just started junior high.
Kotori Itsuka… where do I even begin? She's a little troublemaker, always waking me up with what she calls her "knight kick." Seriously, what kind of sister thinks it's okay to launch herself at her brother like that every morning? And don't even get me started on her lollipop obsession. She's constantly sneaking them behind my back, and I'm starting to worry she'll end up with a mouth full of cavities.
Oh, and then there are her… requests. Let's just say some of them are… unsettling. But despite all that, she's a good kid. Mostly.
I thought this chaotic but peaceful routine would last forever. But then… I found out about Spirits.
Spirits. Beings with godlike powers who bring destruction wherever they appear. And here's the kicker—they're all girls. Spirit, they're called.
Now, because of these dangerous beings, my life has gone from "mildly stressful" to "absolute chaos." And to make matters worse, I recently discovered that my sweet, lollipop-loving little sister isn't exactly who I thought she was.
Turns out, Kotori is the commander of some high-ranking organization. Yeah, you heard that right. The same girl I've been worrying about getting cavities is apparently a big shot in a secret group dealing with Spirits.
Sigh… just when I thought my life couldn't get any weirder.
"Shido, you need to help the Spirits," Kotori said, her tone serious as she twirled a lollipop in her hand.
The situation unfolded like something out of a bad rom-com. Apparently, the only way to seal their powers and save them from destruction was to make them fall in love with me. Me! Shido Itsuka, a guy who's never even held hands with a girl, let alone gone on a date. And the cherry on top? I had to kiss them to seal their powers.
What kind of absurd plan is this?!
Shido Itsuka always thought he was just an ordinary guy. Sure, he'd daydreamed about having superpowers or becoming a hero, like any other teenager. Who hasn't imagined themselves in armor, saving the day, and maybe even winning the heart of a girl or two? But this? This was beyond anything he could've imagined.
His so-called "power" wasn't flashy or cool. It didn't involve lasers, swords, or even a fancy transformation sequence. No, his ability was… well, romantic. He had to capture the hearts of these incredibly powerful, otherworldly girls and seal their powers with a kiss.
The problem? If they got too emotionally unstable, their powers would return, and chaos would ensue. No pressure, right?
---
"Shidou~! Shidou~! I can't do this question! Help me with my homework!"
I turned to see Yatogami Tohka, the purple-haired girl who was once a Spirit, waving her notebook at me. Since her powers had been sealed, she'd been living under the same roof as me and even attending the same school.
"No, you should do your homework by yourself," I said, trying to sound firm. "If I help you, the teacher will notice the difference in our handwriting. But… I can teach you how to solve it step by step. Just try to stay calm, okay? Moving is already enough of a hassle without you accidentally destroying the house."
Tohka pouted but nodded, her expression softening. She was trying her best to adapt to her new life as an ordinary girl, and I had to give her credit for that.
---
Suddenly, a chill crept up my spine, making me shiver. I knew that feeling all too well.
"Yoshino! Yoshino, what's wrong?" I called out, rushing to the living room.
The scene that greeted me was both adorable and concerning. The sofa and part of the floor were covered in a thin layer of frost, and the air was filled with a faint, snow-like mist. Yoshino, a petite girl with aqua-blue hair, was crouched on the floor, her hand reaching under the sofa.
"Shidou…" she whispered, her voice trembling as she looked up at me with wide, pleading eyes. "Yoshinon… Yoshinon is…"
I knelt beside her and peered under the sofa. There it was—her beloved rabbit puppet, Yoshinon, just out of her reach. Yoshino's arms were too short to grab it, but I managed to fish it out in one swift motion and handed it back to her.
The temperature in the room immediately began to rise, the frost melting away as Yoshino clutched the puppet to her chest.
"Thank you…" she murmured softly, her cheeks tinged with pink.
Yoshino placed the puppet on her left hand, and it sprang to life, its mouth flapping animatedly.
"Yoshinon is back! Thank you, Shidou! You're a lifesaver!" the puppet chirped, its voice cheerful and lively.
Yoshino smiled shyly, her gratitude evident in her eyes. "Thank you… Shidou."
As I looked at Yoshino and Tohka, I couldn't help but sigh. This was my life now— school, household chores, and the emotional well-being of former Spirits who could level a city if they got too upset.
However, it turned out that Shido Itsuka had relaxed too soon…
"Why did you let the Spirit's spiritual power reverse again?!" a sharp, high-pitched voice scolded. "Even a goldfish has a memory longer than seven seconds. Is your brain already worse than a fish's? Are you ready to compete with a single-celled paramecium for the title of dumbest organism?"
The words were harsh, but the voice itself was undeniably cute. Before Shido could even process the insult, he felt a sharp kick to his backside, sending him face-first into the sofa.
"Kotori… why are you in commander mode again?" he groaned, his voice muffled by the cushions.
"Asking stupid questions like that won't accomplish anything except waste people's precious time, my idiot Onii-chan," Kotori retorted, her tone dripping with disdain. She pulled an unopened lollipop from her pocket, tore off the wrapper with practiced ease, and popped it into her mouth as if it were a cigarette.
Kotori Itsuka, Shido's younger sister, was also the commander of the mysterious organization Ratatoskr. With her long, fiery red hair usually tied into twin ponytails, she was a striking figure. Her personality, however, depended on the color of her headband. When it was white, she was the sweet, mischievous sister he knew and loved. But when it was black, like now, she transformed into a ruthless, sharp-tongued commander.
"If you're this careless, how do you expect to save Spirits like Tohka and Yoshino?" Kotori snapped, her eyes narrowing. "Or do you just not care if they get killed by AST?"
"How could you even think that?!" Shido shot up from the sofa, his voice firm and resolute. It was as if he'd gone from a lifeless fish to a dragon leaping over a waterfall in an instant.
Kotori's eyes flickered with a hint of satisfaction, but she quickly masked it. "Well, at least your determination is commendable," she said, crossing her arms. "But determination alone isn't enough! AST isn't going to stop attacking Spirits just because you've got a little fire in your heart. This isn't some shounen manga where you can shout 'I'll do my best!' and magically win. And it's definitely not a brainless harem story where you can stumble your way to victory."
Shido opened his mouth to say, "I'll try my best," but something in Kotori's glare stopped him. His instincts screamed that if he dared utter those words, she'd lock him in a dark room and force him to play a marathon of twisted, mind-bending Galgames. Or worse, she'd orchestrate some absurd, overly dramatic scenes with Tohka and Yoshino that belonged only in those very games.
"And…" Shido groaned, running a hand through his hair. "I'm already manage two Spirits at home. What's my life going to look like if another one shows up? Just a few months ago, I was an ordinary high school student! And, oh yeah, I haven't even started my summer homework yet!"
For a high school student, summer homework was the second-worst disaster imaginable—right after the apocalypse. In fact, for some people, failing to complete their homework might as well be the apocalypse.
"Honestly, poor Mother Earth," Shido muttered to himself. "There are probably millions of people out there who'd rather see the world explode than deal with their responsibilities."
But as the saying goes, you never know which will come first—tomorrow or disaster.
Before Shido could even finish his thought, a sharp, blaring alarm cut through the air.
For most people, this alarm meant one thing: seek shelter immediately. But for Shido and Kotori, it was a call to action.
---
Onboard the aerial battleship Fraxinus, the crew was already in full swing by the time Shido and Kotori arrived. The bridge buzzed with activity, screens flashing with data and crew members shouting updates to one another.
If Shido hadn't known better, he might've thought these people were actually competent.
"Report the situation to me immediately!" Kotori barked, her voice cutting through the chaos as she took her seat in the commander's chair. Her deputy, Kyouhei Kannazuki, stood at attention beside her, his usual laid-back demeanor replaced with uncharacteristic seriousness.
"Commander! It's an unrecorded Spirit!" one of the crew members announced, pulling up a holographic display.
"So, this is the first time this Spirit has appeared in the world," Kotori muttered, her brow furrowing as she bit down on the Chupa Chups lollipop in her mouth.
"Exactly," Kyouhei confirmed. "We have no data on her—no likes, no dislikes, no known abilities. If we approach her recklessly, the risks are enormous. One wrong move, and we could trigger a catastrophic reaction."
Shido Itsuka had the ability to seal Spirits, but it wasn't as simple as waving a magic wand.
Two critical conditions had to be met:
1. The Spirit had to open her heart to him, or her favorability toward him needed to reach a certain level.
2. A kiss was required to complete the seal.
In other words, the process could be summarized as: Date her, make her fall for you, steal her first kiss, seal her powers, and add her to the harem.
It was a power that sounded like something out of a cheesy romance novel—or a particularly shameless harem anime. No wonder so many people called Shido a scumbag behind his back.
---
"But we don't even know this new Spirit's strength," Kotori said, her voice cutting through the tension. "If she's not as docile as Yoshino, facing AST could be a disaster. We need to make contact. If we're going to gather information, we'll have to do it during the encounter."
Kotori processed all of this in a matter of seconds, her mind racing as she formulated a plan. But just as she was about to issue orders, something strange happened.
The bustling bridge of the Fraxinus suddenly fell into an eerie, heavy silence. The usual hum of machinery and chatter of the crew vanished, replaced by an oppressive stillness that made the air feel thick.
"Hey! What's going on?" Kotori snapped, her voice sharp as she tried to cut through the tension.
The crew members jolted as if waking from a trance, their faces pale and eyes wide with panic.
"C-Commander… Commander! This, this, this—" one of them stammered, his voice trembling.
"Straighten your tongue before you speak!" Kotori barked, her patience wearing thin. "No one can understand you if you're stuttering like that!"
She glared at the crew, her expression a mix of anger and frustration. These were elite personnel, handpicked from thousands of candidates. They were supposed to be calm under pressure, not reduced to babbling messes.
But as she scanned their faces, a growing sense of unease settled in her chest. What could possibly have shaken them this badly?
Then, one of the crew members delivered the news that sent a chill down Kotori's spine.
"Commander… the scale of the spacequake… it's exceeded Tengu City. The rate of expansion hasn't slowed at all. It's already covered a quarter of Japan!"
"What?!" Kotori's eyes widened, her usual composure cracking for the first time.
The room seemed to spin as the weight of those words sank in. A spacequake of that magnitude was unprecedented. If it continued to grow at this rate, the entire country—no, the entire world—could be at risk.
Shido, who had been standing quietly to the side, felt his stomach drop. "This… this is bad. Really bad."
Kotori clenched her fists, her mind racing. "We don't have time to waste. All hands, focus! I want real-time updates on the spacequake's expansion."
The crew scrambled to obey, their earlier panic replaced by a desperate urgency.
Spirits—special disaster-designated lifeforms that exist in the neighboring world.
Regardless of their intentions, their mere appearance in this world triggers a catastrophic phenomenon known as a spacequake, obliterating everything in their vicinity.
The scale of a spacequake is directly tied to a Spirit's spiritual power output, total spiritual energy, and control over that energy.
For example, Yatogami Tohka's spacequake was rated a B, destroying Shido's school and several surrounding streets. Yoshino's, on the other hand, was the smallest at a C rating.
But this… this was something else entirely.
A spacequake covering a quarter of Japan? If it fully manifested, even those hiding in underground shelters would struggle to survive. And the worst part? It wasn't stopping. The scale was still expanding, slowly but relentlessly.
"Could the detection equipment be malfunctioning?" one of the crew members asked, his voice trembling with hope.
"I wish it were!" another snapped back, their panic palpable.
It was no wonder they were so shaken. In human history, only one spacequake had surpassed this scale: the Eurasian Air Disaster thirty years ago, which claimed the lives of 150 million people. It remained the largest and deadliest disaster in recorded history.
As the crew descended into chaos, a silver-haired woman in a white lab coat sat silently in the corner. Her dark circles were so pronounced it looked like she hadn't slept in decades, but her eyes gleamed with an unsettling intensity.
And then… the spacequake alarm stopped.
Just like that. No warning, no explanation. The blaring sirens cut off abruptly, leaving an eerie silence in their wake.
---
(A/n: Know Not Now, Innocent Light of the Lake)