"By the way, where are we going to stay tonight?" Even though Tony called it a banquet, there was simply no way to hold one under the circumstances.
After all, all of New York was in ruins. If Tony insisted on throwing some lavish party, the media would probably crucify him. So, after a simple meal, everyone dispersed.
But Tohka and Miku quickly realized another problem—namely, that they had nowhere to stay. Their previous home had been demolished, and they'd planned to stay at Tony's for a while, but unfortunately, because of the battle, even Stark Tower itself, which they'd assumed would be safer because of the "shadow under the lamp," had been riddled with damage.
It was in better shape than most buildings, but still full of holes. Neither Tohka nor Miku Izayoi wanted to spend the night in there. If Tohka had been alone, she'd have just squeezed into Tony's place for one night, but Miku Izayoi refused.
"New York is so big—there should be hotels, right?" But as soon as she said that, she stopped talking. It didn't matter what it looked like in the movies—today's battle had affected all of New York.
By nightfall, the city was nothing like the brightly lit place it used to be. Not only police but even the military had moved in. The whole city was under lockdown.
You could say that right now, New York was probably the safest place on Earth. Any petty thieves trying to take advantage had all been caught almost immediately. As for hotels, they were all closed.
"Forget it, looks like we'll have to go to another city." Thinking about it, there wasn't anything else urgent to do. And since Inverse Tohka had already said she wanted to try using Miku's energy to activate a node, Tohka was eager to see how much that could boost her strength.
After all, while her power was decent by Earth standards, it was nothing in front of true heavyweights in the wider universe.
"All right, then let's go somewhere else." Hearing Tohka's suggestion, Miku Izayoi had no objections. She spread her arms as if to say, Come on, hug me.
"….."
Speechlessly looking at Miku, Tohka simply donned her armor, picked her up, and flew off. She headed straight for the nearest city. As for New York, neither of them planned on coming back any time soon. Even with all the Marvel world's high-tech, Tohka was sure it would take months to rebuild.
"By the way, Miku, I'd like to ask you for a favor." After finding a hotel in another city and checking in, Tohka pulled Miku Izayoi to sit on the bed.
This surprised Miku quite a bit—but hearing Tohka's next words left her a little disappointed. So, it seemed she really did want something.
"I'd like you to try injecting your energy into me—I want to experiment a little." Without noticing Miku's expression, Tohka looked seriously at her. She was itching to test what Inverse Tohka had told her.
"Are you sure? Even though our powers are both spirit energy, their attributes are different. Are you really okay with receiving my energy? Can you handle it?" Hearing the request, Miku froze for a second, then spoke uncertainly. She knew Tohka's energy was always massive—far more than her own—but she wasn't sure how Tohka would react.
"Don't worry about it." Waving her hand dismissively, Tohka reassured her. Seriously, no matter how powerful Miku's energy was, could it possibly compare to the Space Stone? Hadn't that thing been sitting in her consciousness without issue?
Besides, with the Kaballah Tree of Life present—and Miku's spirit itself being a node of it—there was no way this would harm her.
"All right then, but listen: if your body can't take it, you have to tell me right away." Looking at the completely confident Tohka, Miku could only warn her seriously.
At the same time, she pressed her small hand to Tohka's chest. But feeling the soft sensation under her palm, she instinctively squirmed a bit and then flashed an excited smile.
"Hey hey, what are you doing? Do you really have to touch me there to transfer energy? Are you sure you're not misunderstanding something?" Flushed and flustered, Tohka protested in embarrassment at the sudden groping.
"U-uh…it's nothing." Swallowing hard, Miku forced herself to calm down. Then she started channeling her energy as Tohka had requested.
"Ugh." As the energy entered her, Tohka felt it instantly absorbed by the Kaballah Tree of Life in her body. And then…and then absolutely nothing happened.
"Um, Tohka—are you all, right?" Just then, Miku noticed the troubled look on Tohka's face and hurriedly stopped, thinking maybe she couldn't handle the energy after all.
"It's nothing—I'm fine. Let's stop for now…I need to rest a bit." Feeling that her body hadn't changed at all, Tohka asked her to stop. She closed her eyes and began to call out in her mind.
"Hey—what's going on here? Why didn't Miku's energy do anything…? Don't fall asleep—wake up!" Before she could even finish calling out, she realized she had already returned to that familiar space.
But what made her want to scream was that her Inverse self was sprawled on the throne, snoring away, drooling all over herself—nothing at all like the imposing figure she'd seen before.
All her fear of this version evaporated in an instant, and she grabbed both of her arms and started shaking her like mad.
"Mmm…hamburgers…grilled fish…soybean flour bread…hnn—it's you." Mumbling nonsense in her sleep, Inverse Tohka was soon woken up by all the shaking. But what left Tohka speechless was—what kind of dream was that? Why did she look so ridiculously dopey?
"Are you okay? Just now, what were you dreaming about? Were you eating a feast or something? Sorry if I interrupted…"
Carefully watching her own face, Tohka, as a fellow foodie, completely understood how annoying it was to have a meal interrupted. Though—well—she'd only been dreaming, so surely she wouldn't be mad?
"It's nothing—really, nothing at all." Hearing Tohka's question, Inverse Tohka quickly denied it. She absolutely refused to admit it, so she immediately changed the subject: "Anyway—what are you doing here instead of staying outside? Do you think I'm so happy sitting here with nothing to eat or drink?"