“What… so many people? Is this a human wave tactic?”
Tohka, having followed Shido and Qianye onto the bustling street, seemed overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and the constant flow of traffic. She maintained a high level of vigilance, speaking with a furious edge.
At the same moment, tiny orbs of light materialized on each of Tohka’s ten fingertips. Shido immediately moved to frantically stop her.
“No, that’s not right. Tohka, no one here wants to harm you.”
“…Really?”
“Really! I’m a Spirit too, and I don’t feel anyone trying to hurt me.”
Qianye joined Shido in reassuring Tohka.
“Hmm…”
After hearing Shido and Qianye’s words, Tohka remained highly vigilant, yet she finally dispelled the orbs of light between her fingers.
Shido and Qianye could only exchange helpless, wry smiles. Tohka’s heightened vigilance, after all, had been forced upon her by the AST’s attacks, and there was no immediate solution for it.
“Tohka, you must remember: ‘Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.’ Don’t force things you dislike onto others. If you were attacked by the AST, wouldn’t you be upset too?”
Shido lectured Tohka in a tone typically used for children. Though Tohka still wore a defiant expression, she obediently listened.
On a related note, Qianye had also changed into Raizen High School’s uniform, just like Tohka.
This uniform was crafted by Qianye using spiritual power. While there were some minor differences in detail compared to a genuine school uniform, it was hardly an issue.
The reason for this transformation was simply Qianye’s curiosity to try on the Raizen High uniform, having grown accustomed to wearing women’s clothing.
It was also worth noting that during the spiritual power transformation into the uniform, Qianye’s previous clothes would vanish for a few seconds. However, Qianye paid it no mind; she wasn’t a typical girl and lacked the usual feminine modesty.
She simply considered it a “perk” for her good brothers.
Just then, Tohka’s expression suddenly relaxed.
“Shido, Qianye, do you smell something fragrant?”
“Fragrant?” Shido closed his eyes and inhaled, confirming Tohka’s words. Indeed, a delightful aroma wafted through the air.
“The scent you’re talking about is coming from over there, isn’t it!” Qianye pointed to the bakery next door. “That’s exactly where I bought kinako bread last time.”
“Oh, oh!”
Hearing Qianye’s words, Tohka’s eyes lit up, and she fixed her gaze on the bakery.
“…Tohka?”
“What is it?”
“Do you want to go in?”
Shido inquired, seemingly having discerned Tohka’s intentions.
“If both you, Shido, and Qianye wish to enter, I suppose I can accompany you.”
Tohka crossed her arms, pouting slightly, and uttered the words with an utterly tsundere inflection. At that exquisitely timed moment, her stomach let out a rumbling growl.
As if understanding perfectly, Qianye immediately spoke up.
“Of course! I want to go, I really want to go, I super~ want to go! We simply can’t go without Tohka’s company, right, Shido!”
“…Huh? Oh! Yes, we absolutely need Tohka to come with us.”
“Hmph hmph hmph!” Tohka’s lips curved upwards slightly. “Oh, you two are just impossible! Since you’re begging me so much, I suppose I’ll reluctantly accompany you inside!”
After declaring this with a lively flourish, Tohka grandly pushed open the bakery’s door.
Shido and Qianye exchanged a smile, then followed her inside.
****
‘…’
That day, Origami discovered school was canceled only after she had already left for class. With no other choice, she returned home, only to spot her boyfriend, Shido, walking alongside two female students.
Given the unbreakable bond of love between Origami and Shido, Origami instinctively concluded that these two female students were coercing Shido into a date with them.
To protect her beloved, Origami began to discreetly follow them.
However, Origami soon discovered an even more serious problem.
Origami had seen the faces of those two girls before.
‘…Spirits.’
That was right. Monsters disguised as beautiful girls, anomalous disasters, scourges that eroded the world.
The Spirit “Princess,” the Spirit “Succubus.”
The very monsters Origami and her comrades were tasked to annihilate were now walking with Shido, clad in school uniforms.
And it appeared they were on a date.
‘…’
Yet, upon calm reflection, she realized this was utterly impossible.
When Spirits appeared, their presence was always observed as a precursor: a Spatial Quake, unimaginable in ordinary times. The AST’s observation team should not have been negligent.
If that were the case, it meant these two girls were not Spirits, but merely students with similar appearances.
“Impossible!”
Origami spoke quietly, for she could not possibly mistake a Spirit’s appearance.
Moreover, in Origami’s memory, Raizen High School had no such individuals.
The conclusion, then, was clear.
These two Spirits had employed some unknown method to manifest without triggering a Spatial Quake, and had then sought out Shido.
‘Kukuku, today you must go on a date with us!’
‘No! I’m Origami’s boyfriend, I want to go on a date with Origami!’
‘That’s not up to you! You must go on a date with us now!’
‘We’ll take good care of you!’
‘No! Origami, quickly, save me!’
Origami quickly conjured the entire scenario in her mind: Spirits, wearing villainous smiles, slowly closing in on Shido.
They forcefully abducted him, intending to compel him into a date, despite his original desire to meet Origami.
‘Those despicable Spirits, coercing Shido—who was so eager to date Origami—into a date with them!’
‘At this moment, Shido desperately needs Origami’s help.’
With this thought, Origami pressed the power button on her phone, then selected a number and began to dial.
“AST, Sergeant Tobiichi Origami, A-0613.”
After stating her identity and access code, Origami got straight to the point.
“Send an observation unit.”