"Tohka, Shido, are you two alright? Geez, when that typhoon blew through just now, you weren't around—it scared me half to death. Uh...this...what is going on here?" Their homeroom teacher, Tamae Okamine, spotted Tohka and Shido walking over from a distance and asked anxiously. After all, if you didn't have a sturdy building to hide in, that storm just now could have been very dangerous. But then she froze.
Because Tohka was surrounded by two girls who looked almost exactly the same, and Tohka herself looked utterly helpless, the corners of her mouth twitching nonstop. Shido just stood to the side with a look of resignation.
Just moments earlier...
"My name is Yuzuru Yamai."
"Kaguya Yamai."
After Tohka asked their names, the two quickly reported them.
"But what are you two doing? Why are you fighting each other? Seriously, you're sisters—isn't that good enough? Do you really have to try to kill each other?" When she heard them introduce themselves, Tohka kept speaking as if nothing were wrong. She wasn't making it up either—she had already seen it. Even though they'd been fighting fiercely, neither had shown any real killing intent. Honestly, if they had, with their power, they could very well have perished together.
"That's because...uh, wait, what is your name? For you to charge between us and interrupt our duel..." Kaguya had originally planned to explain, but suddenly realized she didn't even know the name of the girl standing before them. She quickly asked—after all, anyone who could dash into the middle of their clash didn't look like an ordinary person. As for whether Tohka was AST or DEM, they had already dismissed that when they saw her gear. Tohka's equipment was clearly neither an AST manifesting device nor a Spirit's Astral Dress.
"Oh, me? I'm Tohka Yatogami. As for this guy here—he can introduce himself." Hearing Kaguya's question, Tohka just scratched her cheek awkwardly. She really didn't feel like introducing Shido too.
"I'm Shido Itsuka." Shido gave a simple introduction. Since it was their first meeting, he saw no need to explain more. Besides, this time those old geezers on the ship weren't remote-controlling him, so there was no chance of some bizarre conversation.
"Right, by the way—you must be the Yamai of the Whirlwind, right? Has Yamai always been two people?" Tohka asked curiously. She only remembered they were called the "Berserkers," but didn't really know the specifics.
"Yes. The original Yamai's consciousness vanished during one descent into this world. We inherited her power—so the real Yamai exists between us. However...um, Miku, I have another new proposal—why don't we..."
…..
"So, you two are really going to make this about me—why don't you pick the guy next to me instead? Why do you have to drag me into this? And you two..." Tohka sat on the sofa, black lines running down her face. She really didn't want to get involved—especially in something that would decide someone's fate. She wasn't some protagonist who won people over with speeches, and she had no confidence she could persuade them.
"My my, for us to entrust such an important matter to you, you should be grateful, not reluctant. Besides, compared to some ordinary human, aren't you, with your strength, more suited to be our judge?" Kaguya was the first to grumble unhappily. The two of them were sitting on either side of Tohka, pressing their ample busts against her arms. Tohka ignored it—if she could be indifferent to Miku's, she could be indifferent to theirs too. Miku's were way bigger anyway. As the two girls squabbled around her, Tohka was simply filled with resignation. They were such headaches.
"Agreed. Tohka, tell us—which of us is..." Miku chimed in on the other side. As twins, they were naturally quite in sync about this.
"Sigh...you two..." Tohka rubbed her forehead, exasperated. She knew neither of them really wanted to be apart. No matter who she picked, both would explode. So, she simply kept her mouth shut, letting them quarrel. Once they calmed down a little, she'd talk to them again.
"Geez, I was planning to give DEM a nice surprise—but now look what's happened. I guess I'll have to wait till night, when fewer people are around. Then it'll be easier to avoid being seen." Muttering to herself, Tohka could only postpone her plans to stir up trouble.
"What is going on? Why are those two clinging to Tohka like that?" Meanwhile, outside the room, Shido and Reine Murasame were once again together. Reine watched with a puzzled look—she really hadn't expected this. While she'd been subtly guiding those two into manifesting here, this turn of events was a complete surprise.
"Well, about that..." Shido sounded just as weary. Technically, this was supposed to be his job, but Tohka had randomly stolen the whole event right out from under him. And he still didn't know whether it would be possible to seal their powers this way.
"It's fine—let Tohka handle it for now." Reine thought it over and decided to just watch. She also wanted to see whether Tohka could act as a substitute mediator. With Kurumi, Tohka had stepped in, but Kurumi hadn't truly intended to be sealed.
"Alright then, I'll go. Origami is waiting for me." Shido turned to leave. After all, Origami Tobiichi was always shadowing him—though she didn't see Tohka as a rival in love, she was still as much a stalker as ever. She kept trailing him around, though thankfully she wasn't picking fights with Tohka.
"Yes, but there's a problem. I haven't been able to contact Ratatoskr at all. I don't know what's wrong." Reine glanced down at her tablet, tapping rapidly. Their ship was their main base of operations, so losing contact was no small matter. Without support, any sudden crisis would be much harder to handle.
"Sigh, geez." Shido could only sigh and say nothing more. He didn't really care—and this way, the gentlemen on the ship couldn't mess with him.
"Mm..." Reine didn't say anything else either. She simply focused on her tablet, quickly trying to troubleshoot the problem. She'd all but forgotten about Shido by now.
"Then I'll be going." Seeing this, Shido decided there was no point lingering and quietly left the room.
"Right...I still have something to do. I should tell Tamae Okamine—after all, she's technically the supervisor of this trip. Never mind, I'll just assign Tohka to stay with them." Watching Shido leave, Reine tossed her tablet aside and headed for the door. She still needed to arrange the girls' accommodations. As for giving Tohka advice, she wasn't interested—and Tohka probably wouldn't have asked her anyway. Whenever Reine "helped," it was basically indistinguishable from sabotage.
"So, you two are really making me judge a charisma contest? And can't you at least pick some other way to settle this? You're dragging me in for no reason..." Back inside, Tohka was thoroughly fed up, glancing at the twins on either side. They were getting more and more over-the-top—not only rubbing against her, but also running their hands all over her.
"We've tried other contests—races, eating contests..." They finally paused to explain.
"Ugh, that was dumb of me. Why did I even ask?" Tohka sighed, massaging her temples. She already knew this—she was just having serious déjà vu. She couldn't help complaining, though she didn't care how they took it.
"Alright, how about this? Since I really can't decide, why don't you two go off somewhere and think up a plan?" Looking from side to side, Tohka knew she had to take matters into her own hands. She rotated her eyes slyly and suggested it—anything to get them out of her hair for a while. Her head was about ready to explode.
"You have a point. Yuzuru, shall we step out and do the calculations?" Kaguya nodded; if Tohka handed down a quick verdict, neither would be satisfied.
"Agreed. I won't lose to you." Yuzuru nodded in return. The two stood up in unison, faced each other for a moment as if about to square off, then walked out together to plan.
"Phew...seriously, those two are hopeless. They probably don't even have basic social awareness—what a headache." Watching them finally leave, Tohka flopped back on her sofa, exhausted. They'd completely worn her out.
"Those two left Tohka's room. Should we have the Hound Troop..." Out in the hallway, a man peeked his head out, watching the twins walk away. He spoke into his earpiece. Their target was Tohka, whose powers were badly diminished. They had no interest in the other Spirits—full-power Spirits were still too dangerous. The only reason they'd captured Nia Honjo was her low combat ability and the unique nature of her powers. She also knew too much, so she was worth catching. The others were not priorities.
"My, my—isn't this Ellen?" But before he could finish, Ellen Mathers herself found herself surrounded again. The trio who'd dragged her off earlier reappeared in front of her—if not for them, she would have already grabbed Tohka.
"What are you three doing? I have important business." Ellen stood up calmly, trying to look unbothered.
"Well, see, during the typhoon we had to take shelter, so we didn't get many photos. Now that the warning's lifted, we want to go out and take a few more. You're the tour company's photographer, right? This will be great publicity." But unfortunately, they ignored her protests. Each girl grabbed an arm and dragged her away.
"H-hey—you—" Ellen was pulled along by Ai Yamabuki, Mai Hazakura, and Mii Fujibakama. She couldn't struggle without revealing herself, so she could only stare helplessly back toward Tohka's room—another chance slipping away.
"Tsk, that woman is like a bad penny. But looks like the pit I dug for her worked perfectly. Yamabuki, Hazakura, Fujibakama—thank you for dealing with that nuisance." The commotion hadn't exactly been quiet, so of course Tohka heard it. Watching Ellen being dragged off, she laughed gleefully.
Honestly, she really didn't want to fight Ellen yet. Not only would she probably lose, but her little "gift" for DEM wasn't ready. She needed the surprise effect. After all, she planned to give DEM a proper slap in the face.
"Fine—after all this nonsense, I might as well take a bath. It's still early—there probably won't be anyone in the bathhouse." Tohka wasn't fond of public baths—she could never guarantee she wouldn't embarrass herself. So, she wanted to hurry while it was empty. But...
"Yuzuru Yamai? Kaguya Yamai? Why are you two here?"