Seraphim is a Bystander

A Story from the Past
 

This time it’s from Aoi’s point of view.
After I introduced Seras to the family and Ritsuki had fallen asleep, I stayed in the living room with Mom and Dad.
"What's wrong, Aoi? You must be tired from the school trip. Why don’t you get some sleep?"

"I'm fine. There's something I’ve been wondering about… Mom, do you remember the promise we made before the trip?"
When I shifted my gaze from my confused-looking Dad to Mom, she smiled as if she just remembered something.
"That’s right. I promised to talk about it once you got back. I completely forgot because of everything with Seras and Yuzu-chan."

"Hehe, sorry for springing all that on you so suddenly."
"It’s fine. It was all happy news, after all."
"...What promise are you two talking about?"

Dad, who couldn’t follow the conversation anymore, asked us both. Looks like Mom hadn’t told him.
"Sorry, I made a promise with Aoi before the school trip."
"Yeah. I wanted to hear about how Sou became part of the family… and about how Seras said she saved you and Dad."

When I said that, Dad seemed to understand, and exchanged a look with Mom, wondering where to start.
"Then I’d like to hear about Sou first."
"Hmm, then let’s start with that…"

And so, Mom and Dad told me in detail the story of Sou and the time Seras saved them.
So that’s it… That “Pure Flame” Seras first mentioned in my dream—turns out it was originally something I had used. That makes sense now.
Still, if Seras knew all this, she could have just told me…

‘Would you really believe it if some random angel suddenly told you all that?’
Seras’s voice echoed in my head, responding to my thoughts. I had gotten used to hearing her in my mind, to the point that I wasn’t surprised even when she answered thoughts I hadn’t meant to direct at her.
No way! I can usually tell if someone’s scary just by talking to them for a while!
‘…’

I thought that clearly this time, meaning to give her a proper response, but no answer came—just silence.
...Did she just sigh at me? Or is that my imagination?
‘It's just your imagination.’

…Well, if you say so, I guess that’s fine.
But still… to think Sou was originally a rampaging possessed entity… I knew he was strong, but when I see him playing with Ritsuki at home, it’s hard to imagine he used to be like that.
…Wait. That reminds me.

"By the way, do we know why Sou was possessed?"
"That’s something we still don’t really know. We do know that once the entity possessing him was removed, he no longer posed any danger… but we’ve never figured out °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° where he originally came from."
"…Is that okay?"

I asked, and Dad, looking troubled, folded his arms and showed me some kind of screen.
What was displayed on it was a map of Akatsuki. From near our town all the way to the northeast, a red line squiggled across the screen.
"…What’s this?"

"These are Sou’s traces, tracked through our anti-phantom system. As you can see, it’s erratic. And because Sou moves so fast, we could only trace him up to a point. After that, pinpointing where he came from is nearly impossible."
So that’s how it is… They tracked him for a while, but because he’s so fast, they lost his trail, and can’t find his original location.
"I see…"

"He was a powerful phantom. Since he was attached to you but didn’t show any hostility afterward, our unit at the time determined that it would be best not to provoke him unnecessarily."
"Right… I’d like to help him find where he used to live someday. Maybe he still has a family out there."
"That’s true. He’s part of our family now, but not being able to return to his original home or see his old family is sad."

Like Mom said, knowing how serious Sou is, he probably stayed with us because he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
If we find where he came from, we might be able to learn more about him. When the time comes, I’ll go search for it with him!
"And about Seras… would she be the one who knows the most about that?"

"Seras, is that true?"
Prompted by Mom, I asked Seras, expecting her usual voice in my head… but nothing came. Until—
"There’s not much more I can say, but I’ll explain what I can."

“““!?”””
Seras suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a spot that had been empty just a moment ago and started talking like it was the most natural thing.
"Seras!? You can appear without switching with me?!"

"Well, yeah. Otherwise, how do you think I saved those two before you were even born?"
While saying that, Seras reached for a small maneki-neko figurine in the living room… and her hand passed right through it.
"I can use powers like abilities normally, but as you can see, I don’t have a physical body. So I can’t touch things directly."

Saying this, Seras waved her hand for us to see. It looked inconvenient not being able to touch anything, but for communicating with people, this should be enough, right?
"I see… So Seras has looked like that since before I was born?"
Seras answered with a bit of a tired expression.

"This is basically my default form. When I switch with you, the body reflects your growth, though."
Makes sense… It’s kind of strange that she’s mentally more mature than me despite being around since before I was born—but then again, Seras is full of mysteries. Best not to overthink it.
"…Well, I’m going back now. This takes more energy than you think."

"Ah—yes! Thank you very much!"
With a deeply exhausted look, Seras disappeared as suddenly as she came.
"Seras looked really tired, didn’t she…?"

"Yeah…"
If she can appear separately from me, I thought she might come out more often—but with that level of exhaustion, I guess not.
‘Exactly. That’s why from now on—’

Right! When I don’t have anything to do, I’ll always switch with you! I want to help you meet and connect with people too, so feel free to say so whenever!
‘…That’s how you’re going to play it, huh?’
…? Is something wrong?

‘No, it’s nothing. Well, when I’m in control, your body and mind can rest. So just switch when you need a break.’
Got it! Thank you!
‘…I guess that’s pretty fitting for a protagonist, huh?’

…? Protagonist? Does she want to read a story or something?
Seras didn’t respond again that night. But I’d asked everything I wanted to, and my lingering questions from before the trip were finally cleared up. That night, I slept soundly in my familiar bed for the first time in a while.