"You…"
Before Tohka could say anything, she heard a voice calling her name right beside her ear. Then, as she opened her eyes, she saw Miku Izayoi's worried expression.
She finally understood why Inverse Tohka had kicked her out—if she hadn't woken up soon, Miku Izayoi would have shaken her to death.
"Whew, you scared me to death. You finally woke up." Seeing Tohka open her eyes, Miku Izayoi let out a sigh of relief. She could tell this was the Tohka she knew.
"Hey hey, if you keep shaking her like that, she might pass out again." Before Tohka could say anything, Tony's voice rang out from the side.
"Mm…this is Stark Tower?" Groggily climbing up from the bed, Tohka realized Miku Izayoi had been shaking her with all her strength. Even though this girl knew she wasn't injured, couldn't she be a little gentler?
But thinking about Inverse Tohka, she couldn't help feeling a bit melancholy. She'd said she was going to run experiments, and if Tohka remembered correctly, her inverse self's IQ was a little higher than her own.
But here was the problem—strictly speaking, neither of them were exactly geniuses, so was it really okay to let them experiment inside her body?
She felt it might be safer to hand the gem over to Tony and the others—otherwise, she could end up spontaneously combusting someday. But she didn't have to guess—Inverse Tohka would never agree to that.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to grab the Space Stone herself.
"How long was I unconscious? And what's the situation now?" She shook her still-dizzy head.
After all, that woman had brought the Space Stone directly into her consciousness—if nothing had happened to her, that would have been the real miracle.
She figured that if the Kaballah Tree of Life hadn't been there, even assuming her mental world could contain such a thing, it probably would have exploded her brain.
"Mm, about one or two hours." Seeing that Tohka was okay, Miku Izayoi completely relaxed. As long as nothing was wrong, everything else could go to hell.
"Right—do you know what that other you was trying to do? And where the Tesseract is now? After all, that other you destroyed it and took out what was inside." At this moment, Nick Fury's voice sounded, and Tohka noticed it wasn't just Tony and Miku Izayoi—Captain America was there too. How to put it…every hero who'd participated in the Battle of New York had gathered here. Was everyone so free that they could all stand around watching her?
"No idea. I don't know anything about that." This time, Tohka decided she'd rather die than admit anything. Anyway, she wasn't planning to tell anyone except Miku Izayoi.
"All right, if Tohka doesn't know, then we'll leave it at that. Since we've won a big battle today, let's celebrate a little." Hearing Tohka's answer, Nick Fury frowned.
He had a feeling she knew something, but seeing that Tony wasn't inclined to pursue it, he didn't press either. Not only that—even Thor, who had insisted Asgard should take the Tesseract for safekeeping, didn't say anything.
After all, none of them were stupid. They probably guessed the thing was still with Tohka, but especially Thor thought it might be better that she kept it.
At least, it wouldn't be any worse than letting Asgard hold it. As for S.H.I.E.L.D.—hadn't they stirred up enough trouble? They'd almost nuked New York behind everyone's backs.
"Hmph." Snorting coldly, Nick Fury saw no one else bringing it up, so he didn't press further.
After all, they only knew it was in Inverse Tohka's hands, and no one had any idea where she'd gone. If Tohka kept playing dumb, there was nothing he could do.
Besides, he'd already been stripped of command. Though he figured he'd be reinstated soon, right now he wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, so it wasn't even his problem to deal with.
"So…this is what you people call a celebration?" Following Tony out of Stark Tower, Tohka couldn't help complaining once they arrived at their destination.
Honestly, for someone as rich as Tony, this was ridiculously shabby—he'd just dragged everyone out for fast food. From what she knew of him, shouldn't he have rented out an entire hotel?
"Ahahaha, can't be helped." Hearing her complaint, Tony scratched his head and explained: "First, there wasn't enough time. Second, look around—New York is in ruins. Where am I supposed to find a hotel?"
"All right, all right—we're all tired anyway. This is fine. Let's just eat and then everyone can go rest."
Captain America didn't seem to mind at all—after all, he'd survived even harsher conditions during the war. Of course, nobody present, including Tohka, was especially picky, so everyone found a place to sit.
"By the way, Thor, where's Loki? All I remember is that he tapped me in the chest with that scepter, and after that, nothing."
Glancing around and not seeing Loki, Tohka looked at Thor. That guy had been the main culprit—she was worried he might pull some trick she didn't know about.
"…." Hearing her question, the atmosphere turned a little weird. Everyone looked like they were trying not to laugh, and Thor even blushed a bit.
"Hehe, after you knocked him flying with one swing, he just lay there quietly. It was like you broke his spirit—when I found him, he was still lying there, questioning his life." Hearing Tohka's question, Miku Izayoi couldn't help sounding a little gleeful. She didn't have any fondness for Loki either, and thinking back to the way he'd been dragged over by Thor, she still felt like laughing.
"Ah…really?" Seeing Miku Izayoi's expression, Tohka scratched her head. She hadn't expected that guy to be defeated with just one hit. As for Thor, he probably felt embarrassed that his incompetent little brother was such a disappointment.
"Is that so—then nothing more to worry about." Since Loki had been captured, today's battle was over. Tohka picked up the hamburger in front of her and took a big bite.
After so much fighting, even she was exhausted and starving.