"Watch out." At that moment, the sky suddenly filled with dark clouds. Right after, a fierce storm blew up, making both Tohka and Shido feel like they were going to be blown away.
"Damn, why did a typhoon suddenly start?" Since they were on an island, Shido at first thought it was an ordinary typhoon. After all, that kind of thing wasn't uncommon at sea. So, his first reaction was to grab the big tree next to him tightly, afraid he'd get blown away—if that happened, he'd practically be skinned alive.
"Stop kidding yourself—this isn't a typhoon." Drawing her tachi, Tohka casually sliced apart several logs and branches hurtling toward them. She looked at Shido clinging to the tree and said, then turned her gaze to the sky. Up there, two figures were colliding at a speed almost too fast to see with the naked eye, and clearly this storm was something they had stirred up.
"Are those Spirits or AST? Why are they fighting here?" Shido followed her gaze upward and also saw the two silhouettes crossing paths overhead. Unfortunately, with his eyesight, he couldn't make out their features at all. So, he could only sigh helplessly—seriously, to be fighting in weather like this, those two had guts. Clearly, he still didn't realize that those two were the cause of the hurricane.
"Tsk, obviously Spirits. Hmm, looks like they're the Twin Spirits. And those Astral Dresses—seriously, they look exactly like straitjackets. What the hell were they thinking?" Shido might not have been able to see clearly, but Tohka could. Those two were none other than the Storm Twins, though their outfits still made her have to complain.
"What? Spirits?" Shido froze for a moment when he heard Tohka, then rubbed his temples in frustration. Every time a Spirit appeared, it was always trouble. Honestly, even though Spirits were all pretty girls, every appearance meant massive destruction—so ordinary people preferred to keep their distance. As for Tohka's grumbling, he forgot it immediately.
Just then, after clashing several more times in midair, the two suddenly came crashing down near the grove where Tohka and Shido were. Instantly, the fierce winds and heavy clouds all dispersed.
"That storm was because of those two?" Even Shido, slow as he sometimes was, now realized the hurricane had been caused by them. But he wasn't that shocked. After all, Yoshino had been the same—every time she appeared, it always started raining.
"Isn't that obvious? If it weren't for them, you think an island like this would just spawn a typhoon out of nowhere?" Tohka rolled her eyes at him, then put away her control device. Clearly, this wasn't the time to hack DEM's systems. But she wasn't worried—she'd already left herself a back door in there, so she could get in anytime.
"Hurry up and get over there before those two-start fighting again. There are still people on this island—if they go at it again, the students will be in danger." Seeing Tohka calmly putting her things away, Shido couldn't help urging her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You just walk over slowly—I'll go on ahead. Seriously, those two have probably fought dozens of times by now, so there's really nothing to worry about." With a helpless shrug, Tohka leapt up, then darted quickly through the trees toward the spot where the two had fallen. Meanwhile, Shido could only follow along at a much slower pace, watching her agile movements overhead.
"Hey, Shido—are you okay? We finally got through to you." Just then, the earpiece Shido always wore crackled to life. He paused for a moment, listening.
"What is it..." As he began talking, Tohka had already reached the scene. She saw the two figures facing off. Both had orange hair and mercury-colored eyes. At first glance, they looked almost identical, but if you looked closely, there were plenty of differences.
One of them had her hair coiled up behind her head and a slender figure. The other had long golden-orange hair braided into three thick plaits and a curvier body. Of course, the most obvious difference was that one of them had a bigger bust than the other.
But at that moment, neither of them noticed Tohka arriving out of the forest. Instead, they were completely absorbed in their argument. As they quarreled, fierce winds began to radiate from around them.
"Silence...silence! To dare mock my Mystic Eyes—you deserve a thousand deaths! To anger me, you will pay with your body—in delight!"
"Request. Next, Yuzuru requests Kaguya to explain the black spear."
"Hmph... That black spear which governs the hurricane does not possess any tangible form bound by common sense. It has form and no form. It can be seen and unseen. It is a conceptual power refined to pierce all things!"
…..
Maybe because Tohka's power was still sealed, the two didn't notice her standing there. They just kept arguing as if no one else existed, making Tohka's forehead twitch. These two were just bickering, but why did everything they said sound so ridiculously chuunibyou?
"Hey, hey—you, the one calling yourself 'this sovereign'—did you watch too many palace dramas or something? And you, why does everything you say sound like classical Japanese? Lastly—don't you think dressing like that is just indecent?" Watching them with black lines on her face, Tohka mumbled her complaints. But her voice was too soft, and the wind too loud, so no one heard her. The two kept arguing obliviously.
"Whew—so, who are they, and what are they doing?" Just then, Shido also emerged from the forest, panting, and came up to Tohka. He stared at the arguing girls.
"Those two are..." But before he could finish, his earpiece buzzed again. He listened, then turned to Tohka and said, "They're the Storm Twins—Berserker Twins—who have been detected in various parts of the world in recent years."
"I know. But looks like they're about to start fighting." Tohka only gave him a faint glance—she'd known who they were for a long time. And sure enough, the argument grew more intense, and the winds whipping around them grew stronger. This was clearly the prelude to battle—whenever the Storm Twins fought, it was always accompanied by storms.
"Damn it—quick, do something to stop them!" As the winds picked up to the point they threatened to tear the island apart, Shido looked at Tohka in a panic. In his eyes, she was still plenty strong—maybe not at full power, but strong enough not to be helpless against Spirits or AST.
"Ugh, fine. I'd better stop them—otherwise this school trip is over. Even if it's not Okinawa, this place is pretty nice." Feeling the storm brewing to the point it seemed ready to blow the whole island away, Tohka knew she couldn't stand by anymore. Sure, DEM had probably engineered this, but she still kind of liked the scenery here.
With that, she bent her knees, then stomped the ground and shot forward into the gale—her armor's thrusters firing at full power.
"Sink into darkness! Hraaah!"
"Charge! Hey!"
Leaving aside Tohka's charge, the two had already given up talking and decided to fight—though honestly, it seemed like they'd never resolved anything by talking anyway. For years now, they'd spent all their time like this—bickering, fighting, making up, and doing it all over again.
But this time, they didn't get the chance to clash. Just as their fists were about to collide, a hand suddenly caught each of their wrists, and in the next instant, they felt the world spin.
"Hup—haa!" Tohka had arrived in front of them just in time. Grabbing both girls by the wrists, she spun around once to gather momentum, then hurled them away with all her strength.
"Waaahhhh!!!" Taken completely by surprise, the two couldn't react at all. They slammed into the grass by the sea and skidded a long way before stopping. After a pitiful scream, they couldn't even speak—because they'd both gotten a mouthful of dirt.
"Wasn't that... a bit much? That was way too rough." Shido approached Tohka, eye twitching in disbelief. He was clearly speechless at her blunt approach.
"Um—are you okay? Is it hot?" But then he noticed sweat pouring down Tohka's face. He looked puzzled—this was an island, but it wasn't that hot.
"Uh, um—I'm just thinking about how to retreat." Honestly, Tohka wasn't sweating from heat. It was cold sweat—she was already regretting this. She wasn't Kakashi, and these two weren't Naruto and Sasuke (before Sasuke left Konoha, that rooftop fight). They weren't pushovers. Doing this was basically asking to die. If the two of them teamed up, she seriously couldn't win right now.
"Huh?" Shido looked at her blankly, not understanding. But he let out a relieved sigh—since the storm had died down after Tohka flung them.
"Ptooey, ptooey—damn it! Who dares to interrupt my sacred duel?"
"Ptooey—I concur. That was truly despicable—attacking by surprise."
The two girls had struggled to their feet, rubbing their chests. After skidding so far, they were sore all over. But since this was the first time someone had interfered in their duel, they were especially furious.
"Damn it—was it you, you bastard?" At that moment, they both turned their glare on Tohka, who was nervously glancing around.
"Wait—it wasn't me, it was him." Under their dangerous stares, Tohka quickly pointed at Shido beside her.
"Are you insulting my intelligence? Just look at your outfit."
"I concur. Miss, you should change before telling such lies."
"Ah, you mean this?" Tohka immediately dismissed her "demonic armor," revealing her school uniform underneath. She gave them an innocent smile and said, "See? That was just an illusion. This is my real outfit—hahaha, just a normal high school student, haha—you agree, right?"
…..
The scene went silent. Shido and the two girls stared at Tohka with blank, exasperated eyes. They honestly didn't know where this ridiculous girl had come from.
"Sigh." Seeing Tohka practically writing "I'm cute" across her face, Yuzuru and Kaguya both let out a weary sigh. For now, neither of them felt like fighting anymore.
"Speak. Why did you interrupt our sacred duel?" Yuzuru, the calmer of the two, stepped forward and demanded.
"Concur. If you do not give an explanation, we will challenge you." Kaguya also nodded firmly.
"Uh, um—" Under their pressure, Tohka looked around, realizing she had no chance to escape. She could only awkwardly say, "Well... we're here on a school trip, you know? If you two kept fighting, my trip would be ruined. Oh, and—what are your names? I don't know what to call you."
Since she couldn't run, she could only change the topic. Even though she knew their names, she couldn't just blurt them out, right?