Zeto

Janet drives her white rapier into the earth. Ice bursts outward in jagged sheets, locking the first Pinno’s massive legs and forcing its shadowed bulk backward.

Ten more monstrous dead souls rise between the trees, their huge silhouettes closing around her. They crash through the frozen ground from every side.

Janet turns and strikes until the ring of ice fractures. The horde overwhelms her, driving her down beside Cold Yuichi and scattering the rapier into the leaves.

The Pinno retreat only a step, then gather around them. Janet lies barely conscious, bloodied and struggling to heal as one trembling hand reaches toward Yuichi.

Her silver eyes hold his as the horde turns fully toward them. Frost fades beneath her palm, leaving the question hanging in the cold air.

Janet’s silver eyes widen. Her white rapier flashes upward and pierces Cold Yuichi, releasing a burst of frost and spirit energy through his body without drawing blood.

The power tears free from Janet in a blinding surge. Cold Yuichi’s dormant Blanko nature awakens, and his clothes reshape into a black-and-white uniform matching hers.

A white sword forms in Cold Yuichi’s hand as frost spirals around his boots. The Pinno horde recoils, their enormous silhouettes wavering beneath the pressure of his awakened spirit.

Cold Yuichi rises before Janet, staring angrily at the surrounding dead souls. The sword settles into his grip, and the horde’s advance stops.

Cold Yuichi moves on instinct. His white sword sweeps through the surrounding shadows in a single fierce arc, frost bursting from the blade as the Pinnos recoil.

The strike cuts through every monstrous dead soul. Their huge forms split into unraveling black mist, collapsing across the leaves until the forest is silent again.

The last Pinno’s shadow flickers once, then goes still. None of the creatures can rise or answer, leaving only broken ice and drifting spirit ash around the clearing.

Janet remains on the ground, battered and weak, but the pressure pinning her down has vanished. Her silver eyes follow the sword as its frost slowly settles.

Beyond the trees, distant sirens approach from the direction of Kurichi Highschool. The clearing holds its breath while Cold Yuichi stands between Janet and the fallen threat.

The frost withdraws into Cold Yuichi’s body. The white sword vanishes, and Janet’s borrowed black-and-white uniform reshapes into his ordinary clothes as the clearing grows still.

He lifts Janet carefully against his chest and starts toward the distant road, carrying her away from the ruined ice and dissolving spirit ash.

Cold Yuichi makes it only a short distance before his newly awakened body falters. His knees buckle, and he lowers Janet beside a tree rather than risk dropping her.

Janet’s hand closes weakly around his sleeve. Her silver eyes stay fixed on him while the sirens remain distant beyond the trees.

Cold Yuichi lifts Janet again, steadying her against his chest. His awakened strength answers cleanly this time, carrying her through the trees and toward the Yuichi residence.

He reaches the two-floor house without slowing, brings Janet inside, and lowers her carefully onto the living-room couch. The distant sirens fade behind the closed door.

As Janet settles against the cushions, her black-and-white uniform dissolves into pale spirit mist. Beneath it remains a simple, all-white dress, marking the loss of her powers.

Cold Yuichi’s sharpened perception catches a faint silver thread clinging to the vanished uniform’s mist, leading away from the house instead of toward it. Janet’s trail is no longer being followed.