“I am not a substitute for just anyone.”
Having uttered these words, which Shido found utterly perplexing, Tohka raised her left hand, and another blade of wind cleaved towards him.
“Idiot! What are you spacing out for?!”
Seeing Shido frozen in place, Qianye had no choice but to scoop him up in a bridal carry. Leaping from the spot, she helped him evade the wind blade.
The gust then struck the window, and Tamaki, who had been unnoticed while perched there, could only let out a plaintive “Meow!” as it tumbled off. Although Qianye felt a pang of apology, she had no time to worry about Tamaki. Besides, as the saying goes, cats have nine lives, and Tamaki was a familiar cat with spiritual power; it would surely be fine!
“So, how exactly did you offend her? I recall her reactions not usually being this intense!”
“I honestly don’t know!” Shido replied, exasperated.
“Reine, what’s going on? Didn’t you say Tohka’s affection level was rising?”
“My apologies, I misread it. Qianye’s affection level is rising, while Tohka’s is currently decreasing!” Reine explained, her voice cutting through the alarm sirens.
“Huh?!” Shido was utterly bewildered. He was clearly trying to capture Tohka’s heart, so why was Qianye’s affection level increasing instead?
“Tohka, calm down. What exactly did that idiot Shido say wrong?”
At Qianye’s questioning, Tohka halted her attack, a melancholic and sorrowful expression clouding her features.
“Didn’t you tell me stories about past lives and this life? If this man is actually the reincarnation of someone else, then I would just be someone molded to continue a past relationship. Wouldn’t that be treating me as a substitute for another person?”
“Ah, Tohka thought of that herself?” Qianye’s eyes widened. It was hard to imagine Tohka, often considered the least intelligent among the Spirits, coming to such a realization. There had to be a master mind guiding her.
‘Achoo!’
Perched on the aerial battleship Fraxinus, Reine suddenly sneezed again.
‘I’ve been sneezing a lot lately. Is this body catching a cold?’
‘By the way, who told that story and ruined my plans?’ Qianye mused internally. ‘Oh, wait, I think it was me. Never mind then!’
“Qianye, please put me down first!” Shido requested, a faint blush on his face as he was held in Qianye’s arms.
“I understand. It seems I’ll have to rely on you after all, my Casanova Shido.” Qianye said, slowly lowering Shido to the ground.
“I’m not a Casanova!” Shido earnestly protested.
Turning his gaze back to Tohka, Shido saw the despair in her eyes, as if she believed no one would ever care for her again, as if she despaired of the entire world. After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke to her.
“I came here… to talk to you!”
“What do you mean?” Tohka demanded.
“I believe what Shido means to express is quite literal,” Qianye interjected from the side.
“Yes, I want to talk to you. We can discuss anything. If you don’t like it, you can ignore my request, but please understand one thing, and that is…” Shido took a deep breath. Regardless of whether Qianye’s story of past life lovers was true or false, one thing was certain: Shido had his parents, his sister, his classmates, and Qianye by his side, while Tohka was utterly alone, rejected by the world. If that was the case, then Shido would be the one to tell her.
“I will not deny you!”
*Bang!* Shido’s words struck Tohka’s heart like an arrow hitting its bullseye. Her face flushed faintly, and she shyly averted her gaze from him.
‘Still denying you’re a Casanova? You always manage to grasp the key to capturing hearts.’
“Shido, Tohka’s affection level just increased significantly!” Reine’s voice echoed in his earpiece once more.
‘Excellent!’ Shido was ecstatic. Regardless, there was still a way.
“Oh, and Qianye’s affection level has also risen.” Reine added.
‘Hmm, Qianye too?’ Shido turned to look at Qianye, who was nodding and smiling at him.
“Eh? Does Qianye enjoy watching Shido charm Spirits?” Kotori wondered, looking at the data on the screen. Tohka’s affection level started low but rose remarkably fast, which was understandable. However, for Qianye’s affection level to also rise because Shido was charming Tohka was rather peculiar.
“What a strange fetish! Well, she’s not exactly normal herself, is she?”
After a while, Tohka finally shifted her gaze back to Shido.
“…Shido. You said your name was Shido, right?”
“—That’s right!”
“You won’t deny me, will you?”
“I won’t!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Really, really?”
“Really, really!”
“Really, really, really?”
“Really, really, really!”
…
“Stop!” Qianye suddenly jumped between them, cutting them off.
“Though I apologize for interrupting your conversation, could you two please stop acting like broken records? All this ‘really, truly’ nonsense is making my brain feel like it’s starving.”
‘Even if the author wants to pad the word count, they shouldn’t be so shameless!’ Qianye silently cursed the unscrupulous author in her heart.
“My apologies, I completely forgot for a moment,” Shido said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
At the same time, Tohka turned her head and fixed her gaze on Qianye.
“You’re Qianye, right?”
“Yes, Tohka, you can certainly call me that!”
“Tohka… is that really my name?” Tohka stroked her chin, adopting a thoughtful expression. Although Qianye had been calling her Tohka before, Tohka hadn’t truly accepted the name as her own. Now, as the interaction progressed, she was beginning to ponder it.
“That’s right, this name comes from the day you met Shido—April tenth.” Qianye pointed at Shido, smiling. “It’s the name Shido gave you.”
“Me?”
Qianye gave Shido a knowing look.
“Yes, I’m the one who named you!”
“Hmm~ Then Shido, please show Tohka how to write her name!” Qianye made a gesture of invitation. Shido shrugged helplessly, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote “Tohka” on the board.
“Hmph, so that’s it!” Tohka let out a soft hum, then stepped forward and used the light from her fingertips to write the characters for Tohka herself. Soon, the two characters of Tohka’s name were etched onto the blackboard.
“Qianye!” Tohka suddenly spun around and called out Qianye’s name.
“What is it?”
“Qianye, you, like Shido, won’t deny me, won’t deny Tohka, will you?”
“No, of course not!”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Really, really?”
“Really, really… hey? Why am I also getting caught up in this ‘really, truly’ loop?” Qianye realized she had been pulled into Tohka’s repetitive questioning and immediately stopped herself. Silently cursing the unscrupulous author who padded the word count once more, Qianye looked up and met Tohka’s gaze.
“Hmph!” Tohka frowned, pouted, and crossed her arms over her chest, displaying an extremely tsundere expression.
“I won’t be fooled by you two! Idiot~ Idiot!”
With that, the aloof Tohka officially logged off.
The adorable, silly Tohka proudly logged on.