Staring in exasperation at Yuzuru Yamai, who kept letting out extremely provocative moans with every motion, Tohka could only mentally exclaim, What the hell! These two were way over the top. Was this really necessary? They were making it look like she was doing something completely different. Frankly, Tohka was finding it hard to keep sitting still.
"What are you doing—hey, it's my turn." But it wasn't over yet. Just then, Kaguya Yamai, who had been pinned under Yuzuru, suddenly hugged her, flipped them over, and pressed Miku down beneath her. Then she looked over at Tohka, the meaning in her gaze perfectly obvious.
"Objection. This is unfair to Yuzuru," Yuzuru immediately protested, and with a flex of her body, inverse their positions again, pinning Kaguya beneath her.
Of course, Kaguya wasn't willing to let that stand. In another instant, she flipped them over again, pressing Yuzuru under her. And so, the two of them kept rolling back and forth in front of Tohka, for who knows what reason. As for Tohka, she had begun glancing discreetly around. These two had zero awareness, but Tohka did. Besides, they weren't the only people on the island. She figured it was better to let them blow off steam, and also… she was worried that if she kept watching, she'd end up coughing blood. These two truly had no sense of propriety.
Sigh… When will this end? She looked around helplessly, doing her best to avoid watching them wrestle.
Elsewhere, Ellen's head popped up again from behind a rock. She crept carefully closer to where Tohka was, holding her earpiece as she whispered to the other end, "Princess is just ahead. Prepare to deploy the Hound unit. When you open the spatial field, be careful—there are a lot of civilians here. Try to—ah!!!"
Before she could finish, she was abruptly cut off. She had stepped into a pit trap on the beach and dropped straight in. And this wasn't just any pit—it was pretty deep. She fell all the way down and found she couldn't climb out right away.
"Well, well—if it isn't Ellen." Just as Ellen was trying to scramble out, three voices that sent chills down her spine rang out. To her dismay, she found herself surrounded again by Ai Yamabuki, Mai Hazakura, and Mii Fujibakama.
"Hahaha, I just knew it would be you who fell in." One of them smirked down at Ellen in obvious schadenfreude. Evidently, they were the ones who'd dug the pit.
"What are you doing? I have important matters—" Ellen began, but her voice trailed off in resignation. She knew perfectly well these girls would never listen. And her mission to capture Tohka… would have to be postponed yet again. She really had no way to deal with them.
"Oh, come on—it's just for photos. You're the tour photographer, aren't you? This time let's take some special pictures." Sure enough, they ignored her protests and closed in, corralling her between them.
…..
Half-squinting in disbelief, Tohka stared at Shido Itsuka's dear friend, Hiroto Tonomachi. The two of them had been buried side by side in the sand, with only their heads sticking out. And the design was… quite something: a human leading a dog on a leash—except their faces had been swapped, with Mikado as the dog.
"Miss Photographer, you've been taking pictures for us all this time. So, it's only fair we take a few of you, right?" The three girls snapped away gleefully, while Ellen just watched it all speechlessly.
"How should I put this—no, haha, I guess this must be… fate?" Shido's friend muttered. Ellen wanted nothing more than to spit on him.
"Hey, you two—hurry up and get dressed." What was happening to Ellen, Tohka didn't know. She hadn't cared after shoving the trio onto Ellen's trail. Now she felt the sensation of being spied on once more. Knowing exactly what it was, she quickly pulled the two rolling sisters up and helped them put their bikini tops back on. Only then did the ominous feeling fully settle over her.
"Whew, that's better. DEM… they're like a bunch of stubborn ghosts. But they won't be laughing for much longer. Heh—just wait and see how I deal with you." Relieved that the twins hadn't been spotted by the people above, Tohka allowed herself a few cold chuckles. These guys really loved spying on her, huh? Hopefully, they wouldn't end up crying later—she didn't plan on going easy.
"Hey—what was that for? Why are you interfering with me? I have to show Miku that I'm the strongest!" Kaguya stood up, glaring in annoyance. All these years of fighting her sister, and never had anyone dared interrupt them like this. Sure, their duels sometimes caused more destruction than this, but never had they devolved into such ridiculous antics.
"Objection. No matter how much Kaguya denies it, Miku will be the true Yamai. You can't deny that I'm bigger," Yuzuru retorted calmly, not forgetting to thrust out her noticeably fuller chest.
"Damn you—wanna fight? You think I'm scared of you?" Kaguya bristled like an angry cat and stormed up to her sister, face to face, ready to explode.
"All right, that's enough. Both of you—seriously, knock it off. Someone's coming—mind your image." With a deep sigh and her head full of black lines, Tohka stepped between them and grabbed each by the head, forcibly prying them apart.
"Hmph." Though they shot each other defiant glares, they stayed quiet, since they'd spotted someone approaching. They didn't much care how others saw them, but they'd give Tohka this much respect.
"Hey… you don't look so good." Tohka glanced up and saw two familiar figures walking over: Shido Itsuka—and Origami Tobiichi, who was clinging to his arm. Logically, Shido should be very happy, but right now he looked utterly drained and lifeless.
"Wahahaha—what's the matter? Did she wring you dry?" she cackled, imagining all sorts of things.
"...Don't ask," Shido sighed heavily. He didn't even bother responding to her teasing. The past few days hadn't been easy for him, either.
With Tohka so busy managing the Yamai sisters, Origami—who normally picked fights with Tohka—had lost her usual target. So, she'd turned all her attention to Shido. And Origami being… well, Origami, he had endured relentless advances day and night. She had no concept of embarrassment. It had been hell.
"Uh… got it. Good luck." One look at Origami clinging to him and Tohka knew better than to comment further. The twins had already given her enough of a headache.
"Yuzuru, shall we continue yesterday's unfinished contest? A perfect appetizer before the main event," Kaguya suggested suddenly. The words made Tohka shiver to her core. These two actually wanted to try their cooking showdown again? Was this a joke? Did they realize that if she hadn't been a Spirit, she'd have been dead from their last meal? Those neurotoxins were lethal to normal people.
"Objection. Yuzuru is the strongest. Yuzuru will be the true Yamai. Kaguya is just a failure. Cooking is trivial—let's proceed," Yuzuru declared flatly.
"Uh, no, no need for you to cook. Today, I'll treat you to dinner instead. Behold my greatness—tremble before me!" No way was she going through that again. Sure, the poison hadn't killed her, but she'd been unconscious half the day. Plus, she suspected they'd end up fighting later. She needed her strength. If they pulled another stunt, she'd be doomed.
"You're treating us…?" The twins looked genuinely surprised. They hadn't expected Tohka to say that. This was their contest, after all.
"Yeah—you two spent all day yesterday fussing over me. It's the least I can do. Besides, I didn't get a proper meal either, so this will make up for it. A few of us won't eat much, right?" Cutting off Kaguya before she could protest, Tohka spoke quickly—and even faster, she leapt straight into the ocean.
"Hey—wait—are you seriously going to fish by hand? This is the beach—there aren't that many fish—uh, she's gone. So fast." Shido stared as Tohka vanished underwater in a blur, the rest of his comment dying on his lips.
…..
Underwater, Tohka had already donned her armor. She switched the thrusters to aquatic mode and pulled her demon-mask helmet over her face. With this, she could scan for fish directly, ensuring she wouldn't catch anything poisonous. She had no intention of repeating the twins' blunder.
"…She's not going to drag up something weird, is she?" Shido chuckled nervously. Tohka was… well, Tohka. She often seemed a bit airheaded.
His doubt didn't last long. Before he could say more, Tohka returned—hugging something that made Shido's eyes nearly pop out of his head.
"Oh my god—that's a bluefin tuna! How did you catch that?!" he sputtered, gaping at the enormous, still-wriggling fish in her arms. Bluefin tuna were extremely rare and worth a fortune in Japan. He couldn't understand how Tohka had such absurd luck.
"Who cares? This is plenty big enough. Let's eat to our hearts' content! Hahaha—finally, a proper meal." Ignoring his reaction, Tohka carried the fish—bigger than she was—over to the group.
Perhaps annoyed by its flailing, she threw it onto the sand and punched it squarely in the head. After that critical hit, it still twitched, but at least it stopped thrashing around.
"All right, done. You—don't just stand there. Go get some firewood. And you two, wait here—I'll grab some seasonings from the kitchen." She waved at Shido, gave quick instructions to the twins, then strode off.
…..
In the end, the fish was so big that prepping it took most of the day. Only Tohka and Shido were actually useful; as for the others… forget it. The twins couldn't even tell edible from inedible. And Origami? You expect someone who lives on ration bars and military drinks to be a kitchen ace?
…..
"Ahhh, that was wonderful. And this fish… absolutely delicious. So satisfying." On the beach at night, Tohka patted her full belly contentedly. Everyone had changed into casual clothes. As for the tuna, it was picked clean—most of it in Tohka's stomach.