"Tohka, get up—we agreed about today, remember?" Early in the morning, Miku Izayoi climbed out of her own bed and came over to Tohka's, shaking her desperately. Clearly, she'd planned everything the night before and now couldn't wait any longer.
"Mm?" The awakened Tohka—or rather, Inverse Tohka—frowned slightly. She looked a bit annoyed at Miku Izayoi for disturbing her sleep, but remembering Tohka's request from the night before, she forcibly suppressed her irritation.
"Come on, let's eat first and then go out to play." But Miku Izayoi didn't notice the change in Tohka at all. She simply pulled her straight out of bed.
"Hmph, interesting." Watching the excited Miku Izayoi with curiosity, Inverse Tohka decided not to point it out since she hadn't noticed. She got up obediently and soon put on the clothes Tohka had taken off last night.
"All right, let's go. All our clothes were destroyed, so we still need to buy some new ones." After breakfast, Miku Izayoi enthusiastically dragged Tohka outside, not noticing how silent she'd become. She looked so eager, but inside she was already scheming furiously.
"Here—this place, let's go here." Miku Izayoi pulled Tohka toward a shop on the street. But just then, she finally noticed something odd. Even though she was tugging Tohka along, Tohka showed no resistance and instead looked intrigued. Seeing this, Miku looked delighted—if Tohka wasn't resisting, then maybe she could…hehe…
"Mm, this shop's clothes are pretty good." But at that moment, Inverse Tohka spoke calmly. Without giving Miku time to react, she grabbed her and walked straight inside.
"Hey—wait, are you…?" Seeing Tohka so calm and hearing her completely different tone, Miku Izayoi finally remembered something, though she still couldn't be sure.
"Mm, this…this is quite nice. You—put this on and show me. Hurry up." Ignoring Miku's awkwardness, Inverse Tohka calmly walked over to a rack of maid outfits. After watching for a while with interest, she picked one out and handed it to her without asking.
"This—um—that…" At that moment, Miku Izayoi was finally sure—this was the other Tohka she'd met before. She also remembered what Tohka had told her before going to sleep. So, today's situation wasn't an accident. But—wasn't this way too much? Why hadn't she explained it clearly? (Tohka: How is this my fault?)
"Mm? You don't want to?" Seeing Miku standing there holding the outfit, completely motionless, Inverse Tohka looked at her with a cold smirk. An intensely dangerous aura radiated off her.
"Okay—I'll go right now." Feeling that terrifying pressure, Miku Izayoi shivered instinctively.
Without waiting for Inverse Tohka to say anything else, she hugged the outfit to her chest and bolted for the changing room. As for the little plan she'd had to get handsy with Tohka—she'd completely forgotten it. She couldn't help it—this Tohka's presence was simply too overwhelming, and there was no way she dared defy her.
"Are you done yet? How long does it take to put on some clothes?" While Miku was getting dressed, Inverse Tohka's impatient voice came from outside.
"Coming—I'm coming out now." Hearing her voice, Miku didn't dare delay and quickly emerged.
"Mm, not bad. We'll take it. Clerk—come ring this up, and pack up the other outfits as well." Satisfied as she looked Miku up and down in the maid uniform, Inverse Tohka turned to call over the shop assistant.
"Um, all right. The total for these items is XXX—please proceed to checkout." The clerk hurried over and looked at Tohka respectfully.
"No problem." Thankfully, Tohka had guessed something like this might happen and had already shared her account details, or this would have been quite awkward. After paying, Inverse Tohka ignored Miku's pitiful expression and simply took her old clothes, removed the personal items, and tossed them in the garbage outside.
"Waaah…damn it." Miku Izayoi glared at her resentfully. She could feel the energy always locked on her, making it impossible to resist. But since her home had been destroyed, this had been her only set of clothes.
Looking at Tohka now…wasn't this exactly what she'd planned to do to Tohka herself? How had the tables turned like this?
"Very good. All right, let's go." After taking care of everything, Inverse Tohka gave her one last satisfied look and led her out in a commanding tone.
"Waaah—why did I have to do this to myself?" As she followed Tohka outside, Miku could feel everyone's eyes instantly zero in on her. To salvage the last scraps of her dignity, she didn't care anymore—she immediately used her power to blur their attention. Instantly, the bystanders' gazes were redirected elsewhere. At the same time, she noticed Inverse Tohka watching her with a smirk.
"Ah…ahaha…" Feeling a chill under that look, Miku could only laugh weakly. No way did she want to be recognized—she was half a public figure by now. If this got out, how would she face anyone again?
"Hmph." With a cold snort, Inverse Tohka didn't push the matter further. Instead, she turned her attention to something in the distance—an event that had caught her eye.
"What's this…?" Dragging Miku along in her maid outfit, she stopped in front of a sign and began reading.
"Competitive Eating Contest. Anyone who wins not only eats free but also gets a special prize."
"Mm…this sounds interesting." Glancing at the poster, Inverse Tohka then looked over to the sign-up table, her eyes shining with excitement. Without bothering to ask Miku's opinion, she grabbed her hand and walked straight over.