Date A Mysterious Being

Chapter 6 - Give me a Name!

The time was 5:20 PM.
Avoiding the eyes of the students as they evacuated, Shidou, Lucas, and Kurumi, aswell as Kotori in Reine, who were still in the physics prep room, had moved to Fraxinus, which hung in the sky above the city. They were now looking at the various bits of information displayed on the large monitor on the bridge. Having changed into their military uniforms, Kotori and Reine nodded meaningfully from time to time as they exchanged words. Shidou and Lucas didn't really understand what the numbers shown on-screen meant. About the only thing he got was that the display on the right side was a map of the town with their high school at the center.

"I see...." Sitting in the captain's chair, Kotori slightly smiled as she spoke with the crew, sucking on her Chupa Chups. "Shidou."

"What?"

"You'll be getting to work right away," she told him. "Get ready."

"..."

He had expected the worst and the worst happened, though, he should have been prepared to hear that order. Still, when the time actually came, he doubted he'd be able to hide his nerves.

"Is he being sent into actual battle already, Commander?" Kannazuki asked abruptly, standing next to the captain's chair, eyes on the screen. "His opponent is a Spirit. If he fails, that means death. Has his training been suffi-? Shoof!"
Kotori plunged a fist into Kannazuki's gut.

"Disagreeing with my judgment? You're awfully full of yourself, hmm, Kannazuki?"

"F-forgive my rudeness..!" he replied, as though this happened every day.

Shidou wiped away the sweat from his face. "Actually, Kotori, I think what Kannazuki said is pretty on the nose." Before he got his answer from Kotori, he felt a gentle pat on his left shoulder.

"Don't worry," Lucas said from behind. "I'll be there when you're in serious danger." Lucas confidently told Shidou.

"You sure you can defeat her."

"Hmm... It'll be a pain if she'd use her full power."

"So you would lose..?" Shidou nervously asked.

"Nah. I'd win."

It gave Shidou a hint of hope that he will get out there alive. "Also, you're pretty lucky."

"Huh?" Following his gaze, Shidou turned his eyes toward the screen.
The incomprehensible numbers still flashed there, but he could see a change on the map to the right. There was a red icon on his school with several little yellow icons displayed around it.
"The red's the Spirit, yellow are the AST," he told him.

"...And what's so lucky?"

"Look at the AST. They haven't moved, right?"

"Ohhh... Yeah."

"They're waiting for the Spirit to go outside."

"What? Why? They're not charging in?"

"CR units weren't made to fight in confined spaces. They might have that Territory, but their mobility drops with all the obstacles and narrow hallways inside a building. Their field of view is obstructe- UAARGH?!!" As Lucas explained to Shidou, he was suddenly kicked from behind, stumbling down the stairs to the lower deck of the bridge, step my step and hitting his face at the bottom.

"L-Lucas-san?!" Kurumi cried as she ran down to check on Lucas.

"Hey, how dare you steal my part? Wish to die?" It was Kotori. For some unknow reason, she felt insulted because she was completely cut off by Lucas and took Shidou's attention away from her.