Inverted Approach

Part of the city is destroyed, the night sky is being illuminated by the rising sun, and Shido has his lips connected to Tohka, who is in a dark version of her former self with a black sword as they float in the sky. She is confused by this action and is taken off guard by it.

She looks at Shido confused "Why is he kissing me? …and yet, why does it feel so familiar…" she thinks.

They begin to lower onto a rooftop and Shido hopes that this will be enough to get the old Tohka back…but she remains in this dark form. Shido still has his arms around her waiting for her to change back but she remains cold and wondering.

Tohka stares blankly at him "why did you just kiss me, human?" she asks.

Shido looks confused at her "Tohka, don't you remember me yet? It's Shido. You and I have been friends for months."

Tohka just looks closer at him with her eyes squinting a little until she shakes her head slightly "No, I don't remember you at all." She states as she pushes him away from herself a little.

Shido puts on a sad look as Yoshino and the Yamai twins join at his side ready to protect him. Miku floats nearby to observe what is about to happen since her powers don't work on Tohka in this form. The three spirits at Shido's side look ready to protect at any cost.

Tohka looks at three curiously and sees their determination "You three are similar to me, and yet you choose to come to a human's side?"

The three don't look like they're ready to waver, but Tohka puts her sword away for now and appears to calm down. Shido moves past the other girls, making them worried, and slowly approaches Tohka to see if she's coming around.

Tohka then approaches him at the same pace with doubt in her eyes and that same sad look she originally had and Shido can see it.

They stop before each other and Tohka looks at him once more and he attempts to put his hand on her face, but she lightly slaps his hand away.

She grabs his hand gently as it moves away and feels his sweat "You were afraid of me, and you still chose to approach me…why?" she asks

Shido shakes his hand grasps her hand and moves closer to her "I wasn't afraid of YOU, but I was afraid that I would lose you, Tohka. I didn't want to see you go back to being alone again. I didn't want to see those sad eyes again." He gently replies.

Hearing her own causes her to have doubts about her former distrust of Shido she had in this form as she embraces him lightly to see if this also causes familiarity to her, but it doesn't. She continues to hold him and looks uneasy "I don't feel familiar with this. But when you kissed me, I felt something familiar, and when called me Tohka, I felt oddly at peace…Human, I feel like I should trust you, but I don't know." she says with doubt.

Shido holds Tohka tighter and she doesn't resist this but Shido feels sad as he lets out a single tear that falls behind Tohka so she can't see it.

Tohka moves Shido back and is entranced by him at this point as she forces her lips on his just like he did her minutes ago. The other girls blush at seeing this and Tohka continues for what seems like minutes, but it is really just a minute.

After feeling some more, Tohka moves Shido's face away from hers and she's sure of one thing "That felt…strange to me. It felt right... like I really enjoy it. Human, tell me your name again." She demands from him.

Shido hesitates a little but manages "Shido Itsuka. Tohka, you really don't remember?" he replies sadly.

Tohka holds Shido's hand once more and blushes a little "Shido Itsuka, you seem to know me, and I don't have any memories of you. When we kissed, I felt at peace and it seemed familiar. I'm not sure of anything at the moment, but I am willing to give you a chance. You keep calling me Tohka, so I'll accept it for now."

The other three girls sigh with relief, and Miku is unsure of what to make of this for now so she disappears. Shido is happy to hear this but is sad that his Tohka hasn't come back.

He holds Tohka's hand with both of his and makes her a promise "Tohka, I promise I won't leave your side until I make you smile like before. I will do whatever it takes."

Tohka doesn't blush and simply replies "I will hold you to those words, Shido Itsuka."

With hope renewed, Shido and this new dark Tohka hold hands and the other girls leave to give them privacy for the moment, but Shido's sister Kotori and her team need to make a new team plan because Tohka is more dangerous than she's ever been, but they aren't even close to giving up.

Shido looks closer at Tohka's current attire and reminds her "Tohka, if we're going home, you'll need new clothes since those are a bit much."

Tohka inspects her attire and doesn't see a problem since her attire is to her liking. But Shido politely asks her to simply change it to something less conspicuous. She agrees after a minute and simply thinks uses her power to create a plain dark purple dress that covers her entire torso and most of her legs and she goes barefoot. Though she looks like the original Tohka again, her eyes are still different and she still feels hostile, if only a little.

Minutes later, after going home through the quietest way possible, Shido and Tohka finally arrive back at his place to get Tohka more comfortable around him again, so she won't be going back to her apartments like Yoshino and the twins. Kotori thinks this is best as well since Tohka is more of a threat than ever if she loses her temper or feels threatened.

Tohka and Shido sit on the couch next to each other without any words for the moment. Kotori and her crew are watching as well from the Fraxinus. They don't have any advice for the moment, even Kannazuki is playing it cool from this new date.

Kotori taps her finger with anticipation and looks around the front of the ship to see if anyone is ready to move "Okay, does anyone have any ideas of what Shido could say?" she asks nervously.

She looks to her side at Reine to see if she has any ideas, but the tired-looking woman has nothing to say either, she just stares at the screen in front of her. Shido is about to say something to Tohka, and everyone's hearts begin pounding with anxiety.

Shido opens his mouth but doesn't speak until he takes a deep breath and says his first thing "Tohka, would you like something to eat?" he asks frankly.

Tohka looks at Shido calmly "That sounds fine. I'm not hungry, but I could something nice to eat." She replies gently to his offer.

Shido nods and walks into the kitchen to make something for Tohka to eat. Kotori had the foresight to restock the fridge before Shido and Tohka arrived to be safe. Shido pulls out some eggs, bread, rice, and assorted vegetables for a salad. Shido makes a simple breakfast for himself and Tohka. Once he really gets it going, Tohka can smell it and finds it pleasing.

Shido does his usual best to make a fine looking breakfast for himself and Tohka as he finishes by pouring himself and her cups of coffee. Once completed, Tohka sits at the table and is handed a fork by Shido, who smiles and tells her to dig in. The crew aboard the Fraxinus hopes this will help since Tohka normally loves food, especially bread and Shido's cooking.

Tohka takes a small bite of eggs but doesn't respond, she sips her coffee and makes no sound, and she eats her sides with silence. Shido eats his breakfast with the same amount of enthusiasm as she does.

Once they've both finished, Shido takes the dishes and asks her "So, did you enjoy it, Tohka? I made it especially for you today." He says happily.

Tohka nods and doesn't say anything to him as she goes back to sitting on the couch and doesn't even ask for seconds. Though it wasn't visible, her happiness did go up, and the Ratatoskr crew can see it, but it was only slightly so his efforts weren't for nothing. Luckily, the rest of the day is peaceful until the night comes. Tohka had the same response to dinner and Kotori remained aboard the Fraxinus out of caution. Tohka switched her outfit to a see-through dark violet pajama dress and black undergarments. He offers to let her sleep in Kotori's room for the night since she isn't around and won't come home until things are settled.

Shido has had a long day with the new Tohka and needs his rest, so he goes to bed rather quickly. He wants to sleep, but it just doesn't come easily to him. He lies awake thinking of the old Tohka that he knew, the one who thought the world was a terrible place but grew to love thanks to him. The one who loved bread and loved to be patted on the head and would do simple things to extremes to get it, and the one who got jealous when he kissed other girls was the one he wanted back.

While thinking of the old Tohka, Shido hears his door opening and he immediately sees Tohka walking towards him without regarding him. She immediately walks up to him while he remains silent and flustered at her current attire. Shido moves over a little because of him kind of getting where she's going with this. But she actually does is more surprising, she lifts up the covers and gets under them and lies next to him with her uncaring look.

Flustered, Shido manages to mutter "T-Tohka, what are you doing under the blanket with me?"

Tohka leans closer with a now curious look and replies "You really act like you know me, so I want you to tell me what we did and see if that makes me feel anything."

Shido is calmed down and now he moves closer to her and then he gets a little bolder as he puts his hand and her head and begins little rubbing her head, which she lets him do and then he begins to talk to her about their first date. He tells her about the setting sun, about being shot, about her new love for the world, and about all the wonderful things they did together. But these memories don't seem to move Tohka because she simply looks at him with those same unfeeling eyes that look sad.

But before she falls asleep again, Tohka whispers "Thank you, Shido Itsuka, for telling me these things. I don't remember anything of what you said, but they sound pleasant….even if they were all lies. But I'm not sure they were."

Shido watches as Tohka falls asleep for a while until he's sure that she's passed out. He waits silently for Kotori to say anything due to having his earpiece in this whole time; he's never taken it off this whole day. Kotori is still up as well from anxiety about this situation.

She looks at the screen and smiles a little since Tohka's happiness meter has gone up quite a bit from before, but Shido has a lot of work yet. Kotori wishes Tohka would return to normal as well, but she understands that Shido must be feeling it a whole lot worse.

Kotori takes a breath and tells her brother the good news "Shido, Tohka's meter went up a bit and she's in a stable mood, so just get some shuteye for now. We'll get back to it tomorrow."

Shido takes her word and begins closing his eyes. Kotori turns off the sound and yawns to herself to leave for her makeshift bedroom aboard the Fraxinus. The next step will be getting Tohka back to socializing, and Kotori has an idea of what to do next.