"******, do you want to live?"

"Do you want to live, regardless of what life, or what form you assume?

"Yep, I wanted ****** to continued living from now on, more than myself. Well then, I'll show you a miracle. It's just your body that's broken, isn't it? Then we can use... It'll have to be my body, I guess.

Silence.

A new voice. "...It won't be enough... If you're willing to go that far, then accept this from me as well. I'd like to see how you'll take my gift."

***** woke up in a crater.

Though she knew she should be surprised, she wasn't. As if waking up in craters was a daily occurrence... or as if she'd seen stranger things before.

Yet, she could not remember anything. Try as she might, nothing came to mind as to how she had gotten there, or why she was wearing what seemed to be red and black armor. For there was black armor covering her chest and back and black shorts, over which was a red coat. Something told her these were not normal civilian clothes, whether it was simply the appearance or the feeling of of mana (shouldn't it be od?) flowing throughout the clothes... and throughout her? Indeed, she felt as if she had a second heart, pumping mana throughout her body, and yet it felt wrong, as if her body should not have a heart of mana. ****** did not understand, but at the moment, she was more concerned with getting her bearings rather than uncovering the secrets of her new body.

She furrowed her brow, trying to remember her name. It was on the tip of her tongue, and yet she could not remember what precisely it was. 'Emi,' she decided. The name felt right - even though it also did not feel complete, but Emi was not going to be picky.

With her name determined, Emi stood up and took a look at the world outside the crater. Around her was a park. Little paths weaved between trees and bushes, ducks splashed around in a small pond, and sunlight filtered in through the trees. She was both relieved and suspicious when she noted there were no civilians to see her strange clothes or to have been injured by whatever had left her in a crater. Why would the park be empty in the middle of the day?

A humming sound began to fill the air. Emi tensed, preparing for whatever was to come. An ominous feeling began to take hold.

There was an explosion, and suddenly Emi found herself at the center of an even larger crater, herself seemingly unharmed due to the mana that flowed throughout her and reinforced her defenses.

"Coordinates: GT-1820. Target: Unknown Spirit, likely a new one. Engaging."

Small figures hovered in the air, with what appeared to be jetpack-wings keeping them aloft. Each wore tight armor and each carried what appeared to be a large gun, each pointed... straight... at... Emi.

Emi immediately began to move, dodging back into the cover of the trees just as several blasts struck where she would've been seconds ago. Her mana flowed into her legs, reinforcing them to heights otherwise unachievable. The ground broke beneath her feet as she ran, pieces of dirt flying behind her as she tried to escape her pursuers, even as blasts rained down all around her.

Despite fleeing, Emi was not panicked at all. She did not run out of fear for herself, but out of a fear that she would hurt them. The people above her were more akin to children: fragile and harmless. She felt confident, like she knew she could survive. As if she had experienced this before -

A witch stood before him as magic circles around her spun, unleashing the wrath of the heavens.

There was a stabbing pain in her chest, a feeling of loss. She had lost something (or someone?) important to her. Something or someone that could not be replaced. She needed to remember, she needed to-

Emi snapped out of her trance just in time to see a glowing barrel pointed at her face.

She flipped her upper body back, sliding on her reinforced knees and dodging both the gunshot and the assailant who had descended below the treetops, before flipping up into a fighting position, arms out and ready to grasp - to grasp what?

Swords.

An infinite number of swords that spanned an entire world. Sword mundane and legendary alike upon a desolate hill-

The steps came naturally as sparks of light coalesced in her hands, forming vague outlines of two blades.

Judging the concept of creation.

Hypothesizing the basic structure.

Duplicating the composition material.

Imitating the skill of its making.

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth - ERROR! Something was missing!

Reproducing the accumulated years -ERROR!

Error. Termination imminent.

No. She was close, too close, and she needed a weapon to defend herself!

Overriding failed processes... success.

Excelling every manufacturing process.

Black and white blades - Kanshou and Bakuya, her mind informed her - formed in her hands and she raised them before her face to deflect a second shot.

"Trace on," Emi muttered, the chant unneeded... but which she said anyways out of habit. Where had she picked up a habit like that?

Now that they were face to face, Emi could see that her attacker was a young girl with short white hair. She was young enough to be in middle school, but she carried herself like a trained warrior.

A trained warrior was different from an experienced (was Emi experienced?) one, however.

Now in close range, the girl dropped her gun and brought forth a small device that was revealed to be a lightsaber. She swung it forward with textbook precision, a downward slash meant to allow her to put her weight into the blow.

Emi reinforced her arms and deflected it with one sword. After all, there was no need to use both hands to stop the blade when deflecting it only needed one. Her other hand was then free to form a fist and smash into her chest.

All living beings need to breathe, and the girl was no exception. Emi's original intention was to force the air from her lungs, forcing her to fall back. Instead, her strike through the girl backward, sending her crashing through a tree and carving a decently sized ditch.

Emi took a step forward. These people were in her way. They were stopping her from finding what she lost.

She was going to finish this girl.

Another step forward.

Then another-

'This isn't right.'

Emi paused.

'Even if the best possible outcome has someone get hurt to save many others, I still want to pursue a resolution where nobody is hurt.'

The words echoed within her, and she found herself agreeing with them.

'Would it ever be wrong to wish that no one got hurt?'

Emi continued approaching the girl. However, instead of raising her blades to deal the finishing blow, she dismissed them and raised her arms. A staff formed in her hands, a circle on one end.

"Pain Break-" Emi paused. Though the girl before her was unconscious, there wasn't a single scratch on her. Experimentally, she nudged the girl with the staff. A green barrier appeared, protecting the girl.

While Emi would love to experiment on the barrier, the figures closing in above told her that she did not have the time. She turned away and ran.

"Welcome aboard again, bro." Kotori, the red-haired captain of the ship Fraxinus greeted her brother.

"I got here as soon as I could," Shido returned, still sweating from his run. "What's happening this time?"

"See for yourself." Kotori indicated to the large screen before them, showing the Anti-Spirit Team's efforts to catch a small figure on the ground. As they watched, the supposed spirit exited the park, making a beeline towards a living complex.

A zoom in gave a clearer view of the spirit. With her back turned, however, and with the camera having trouble keeping up with her movements, all that could be seen was pink hair and a red cape.

"This spatial quake is weaker than average," reported a member, "Roughly equal to what we'd expect from a spirit like Hermit."

"Hermit?" Shido asked. He was, after all, new, having only subdued one spirit so far.

"We give spirits codenames based on how they behave and look," Kotori explained to him. "Hermit is a particularly docile spirit that avoids fighting. At the moment, we're having a hard time keeping track of her, though we should get better readings with time. But enough about Hermit," she gestured to the screen. "This is a new spirit that we haven't seen before. We're calling her Blacksmith, since she seems able to make weapons."

As Shido watched, he noticed something. "She's not fighting anyone."

"Good job, bro. I wonder how long it took you to figure that one out?" Kotori shot back. "Blacksmith seems to only fight when necessary; otherwise she always escapes. Her reasons are unknown."

Kotori leaned forward from her station. "Watch her carefully, bro. This is another spirit you'll have to date and kiss. Take notes, see what you can find."

Emi took a deep breath from within the apartment building she was hiding in. She had speedily escaped the park and broke into the apartment building.

There were no people in the building either, but there were signs indicating that there had been people not too long ago. Coffee sat on desks, still warm. Electricity in the building still worked. The building still had running water as well. All this lead Emi to believe that they had all been evacuated.

'Likely in preparation for this battle. They expected me to appear here.'

Yet, despite having been sure that she had avoided the flying people, they had begun to gather around the building.

'They're tracking me!'

Emi raced through the structure, escaping through a back door before weaving back and forth through the city. As she ran, she spread her mana out, letting it scan herself and her surroundings to form a blueprint (structural grasp?).

'No bugs,' she noted, even as gunfire destroy the bus stop she just raced by. 'Are they tracking my mana?' She was leaking a large amount of it, after all.

She escaped into a department store. 'If I stop my mana from circulating so freely, will I be able to escape them?' She dashed over to a sales counter and leaped behind it, hiding her from view. She settled into a meditation behind the counter, once again using magic to grasp the structure of her mana.

A flaming heart. Emi could see within herself a core shaped like a crystal that pulsed, sending mana from her chest throughout her body along straight lines - magic circuits.

All Emi had to do was figure out how to subdue the pulse of her core.

Outside the building, however, the commander of the AST gave her order.

"Surround this building, ladies! The Spirit is definitely in here!" Ryouko shouted to her subordinates.

"Yes ma'am!"

"I'm going in," Origami announced before flying towards the building.

"Wait!" But Origami had already broken into the building via a window. "Ugh. Rest of you, stay where you are! I'm going in after her!"

"Yes ma'am!"

As Ryouko entered the building, she saw Origami's unsheathed No Pain light blade, and yet the girl was standing in one place. Similarly activating hers, she set out to join her.

"Found anything?"

"The Spirit signal vanished."

"Let's go, Tobiichi. The spirit likely disappeared, like the rest always do. The rest of the team can do a sweep of this place."

Emi peeked out from behind a column at their retreating backs.

She was very thankful that she hadn't been found. Having failed to realize that the clothes didn't just circulate mana but were literally made out of it, she had been in for a horrible surprise when she ended up naked. Fortunately, she had managed to steal clothes from the clothing section.

Now dressed in a black t-shirt, black trousers and a red jacket, she began planning to sneak out of the building.

Of course, she had to leave through the first floor. If she jumped from a higher one, she would definitely get attention, plus she would have to unseal her mana to survive.

She ran down the working escalator - another sign that people had only recently left - and reached the bottom of the department building. The first floor was full of restaurants. Hearing voices, Emi quickly hid behind a stack of chairs.

"...never actually killed a Spirit." Two girls, dressed in the same combat gear as before, entered through the front entrance.

"Isn't that a good thing? Would you really be comfortable with killing a spirit?" The other girl asked.

"Of course. Those spirits cause the spatial quakes and kill countless people every time."

"But not all spirits are necessarily bad! Hermit doesn't cause trouble, and this one didn't hurt anyone."

"Just cause they're nice, doesn't mean-" Their backs were turned, and so Emi made a break for the exit. Silently as she could, she slipped out the door and into the streets.

Inside the building, the girls whirled around.

"Did you hear something?"

"I think so."

A pause.

"Must have been the wind or something."

It was raining.

It was something Emi had desperately hoped wouldn't happen, but knew it was only a matter of time.

Having nothing to identify herself with, Emi hadn't been able to find a job and had thus survived on the streets for the past week. She had added a hood to her jacket with a small amount of magic.

And wasn't that interesting. It was possible for Emi to open her core just a tiny bit to cast spells without people honing in on her and shooting her.

The hood has been a logical choice. Having escaped the fighting, Emi had been able to find a bathroom mirror to take in her appearance. With pale skin and long, light pink hair, she would've stood out and likely would've been mugged. The hood helped divert some attention.

Actually, some people had tried to mug her, likely convinced by her small stature that she would be easy pickings, but she was sure that without the hood it would have become an even more commonplace event. At any rate, she was just scraping by. Stealing food from trash cans and swiping unfinished meals left behind at restaurants was her sustenance. She refused to steal any further than she had already.

Still, having only taken food, she had no shelter from the rain. Eventually, she sat inside a bus stop to take cover, watching as stores closed for the night as she tucked her legs up to preserve warmth.

"Hey there," It was a masculine voice, full of kindness. It reminded her of someone... someone who would also always be willing to lend a hand to others, and yet his name also escaped her tongue. "You alright?"

She looked up to see a blue-haired boy standing in front of her, his umbrella further helping block the rain. In his left hand was a bag of groceries.

"I'm fine," she snapped, sitting up straight. "Who are you?" From her experiences, most people who approached her either wanted to hurt her (the flying people and the muggers) or give her charity. At any rate, it didn't hurt to be careful.

"A-ah!" The boy backed up. "Sorry. I didn't mean to come off as creepy or anything. I was just wondering if you were ok, since you're out here in the rain and the buses don't run at this time."

And now he was making her feel bad. "No, no, you're ok. I shouldn't have snapped. I'm just waiting for my ride," she fibbed.

"I see." He tilted his head in thought. "Wait, do I know you from somewhere?"

"Probably not," was her calm reply. "I've never seen you before."

The boy looked thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged and pulled a receipt and a pen from his pocket, then scribbled a number and handed it to her. "Anyways, I live pretty close by. If you need any help, give me a call."

Emi took the number. "Thank you..."

"Ah! Sorry, I should've introduced myself." He gave a slight bow. "I'm Shido Itsuka. You can just call me Shido."

"Shido, huh..." Emi nodded, committing the name to memory. "Then you can just call me Emi."

"Alright then, Emi-chan. I hope your ride comes soon!" He began to leave.

"Thanks," Emi just smiled and waved to him. When he was out of sight, she pulled out the number.

"Call him, huh? I don't even have a phone." She curled up again, hugging her legs to her chest and listening to the droplets pelt the plastic cover above her.

Her eyelids were beginning to droop when she heard the sound of footsteps splashing in the rain. Looking up once again, she saw a little girl taking stepping through puddles. Her green rabbit hoodie hid her face, but couldn't hide her blue hair or the rabbit puppet on her left hand. Still, she appeared to be a normal girl, if outside a little late.

As she neared, however, Emi began to catch scent of a familiar scent. It was similar to her own, but different at the same time. While Emi smelled of steel, the girl before her smelled of water, bringing to mind pictures of calm, tranquil lakes. But there was something that was the same, something that Emi instinctively knew was the scent of mana. The mana didn't just flow off the girl, but also off her clothes.

"Hey," she called out. The girl froze in place, likely out of fear, so Emi decided not to get any closer. Instead, she stayed standing underneath the bus stop. "Are you-"

"Don't tell me you're here to bully Yoshinon too!" A childish voice came from the puppet, prompting Emi to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"Bully...? Are you talking about the flying people? Did they attack you too?"

"Us too?! You say that like you've also been bullied by them!"

"Yes... I have. I wanted to know if you were like me," Emi confessed. "Did you also wake up without knowing where you were?"

"Woah, woah, woah, missy. We don't even know each other!"

"My bad," Emi gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of her head. "I should've introduced myself. I'm Emi."

"The name's Yoshinon, and you better remember it!" The puppet waved its little arms around.

"Understood. Then what about yours?" Emi asked, addressing the girl this time.

"...I'm Yoshino..." came the quiet voice from the girl.

"I see," Emi nodded, ignoring the the fact that the girl and the doll called themselves different names. For all she knew, the doll could be alive, considering that magic was involved. "I've only been around for a week. Do you mind explaining everything to your junior here?

"Yesiree! Yoshinon doesn't mind at all!" With that, Yoshino took tentative steps towards Emi, before settling on the bench next to her.

"Where do you want to start?" the puppet chirped.

"Let's start with what we are," Emi responded, "Considering that we smell like magic, and I've never seen the humans smell like magic, I don't think we're human."

"You would be right!" Yoshinon said, "We are spirits!"

"Spirits?"

"Spirits!"

"Spirits."

"Spirits."

"No... explanation?" Emi tried.

"Oh, I thought you already knew what spirits were," Yoshinon chuckled, "I mean, Yoshino just woke up knowing she was a spirit."

"Well, I didn't wake up knowing anything," Emi sighed.

"In that case, lil' sis Yoshinon is going to teach ya!" Yoshinon leaned closer, "Spirits are amazing beings like us! We make spirit energy, which we can then use to make all kinds of things happen! For example, Yoshino can control water and ice!" The puppet nudged the puppet master. "Why don't you let our new friend see?"

Wordlessly, Yoshino raised her other hand. The rain changed directions, gathering above her palm and freezing together in the shape of a crystal.

"See! Isn't our power the coolest?!" Yoshinon cheered, "Yoshino can even makes it rain!"

"Can make it rain?" Emi glanced up at the dark clouds above them.

"...Don't like," came the quiet voice behind the hood, "...Can't control it." The hood slipped back a little as the little girl gazed up at the sky. "...Want... to see the sun..."

Emi had a completely understandable urge to protect the little cinnamon roll sitting beside her.

"You'll see the sun eventually," she said as she patted Yoshino on the head. "In fact, I managed to control my spirit powers. I could try teaching you to control your powers."

"Y-You could?!" For once, Yoshino herself seemed excited before she flinched and looked away. "A-Ah, I mean... I would... like that?"

"Then I'll give it a shot," Emi flashed her a smile, "Though could you tell me a bit more about spirits? Like, how much water can you control?"

She really did intend to teach this little girl to control her power. Power without control was dangerous, both for the owner of the power and for the people around them. But she also still needed information.

"If Yoshino tried, she could cover the whole city in frost!" Yoshinon proudly proclaimed. "But of course, we spirits can also use our spirit energy to fly. And if we push our spirit energy into the world, we can make big explosions. The humans call them spacequakes."

Once again, Yoshino raised her hand. As Emi watched, a purple sphere appeared for a brief moment, before it imploded with a loud crack.

"Huh."

"And if we're in really big trouble, Yoshino can even call her Angel!"

"Angel?" Weren't angels from the bible?

"Yeah! Angels are these really cool super-weapons! Yoshino's is a giant ice rabbit named Zadkiel!"

"I see. So it doesn't have anything to with the bible?" Emi asked.

"What's the bible?"

"Ah... never mind." If Yoshinon didn't know what the bible was, an Angel's appearance and abilities probably didn't have anything to do with the name. But who named the Angels? It couldn't be a coincidence that they just happened to be named after biblical angels, could it?

"Okay!" Yoshinon continued as if it hadn't been interrupted, "Spirits only appear for a short amount of time before they return to where we come from."

"Spirits go somewhere?"

Yoshinon nodded. "Usually, spirits stay for a while before we get drawn back to wherever we come from. It feels like falling asleep."

"But then..." Emi frowned. "Why am I still here?"

"The reason you're still here's probably because you're controlling your spirit nature! I think." Yoshinon said. "Yoshino can hide her spirit nature, but she can't control it."

"...That's why...I want to learn..." came the soft-spoken girl's voice again, "I don't want...to hurt people."

Emi smiled. "I understand. You're not alone, Yoshino, Yoshinon. I'll do my best to teach you."

Yoshino smiled back.