"Why are you here, Kurumi?" Shidou asks, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Questioning my love? How cruel," Kurumi teases, theatrically pressing her eyes. Her exaggerated act is infuriatingly adorable, and Shidou feels utterly bewitched.
"I'm thrilled if you came for me, but you wouldn't come all this way just for that, right?" he presses.
"Meeting you is one reason," she replies coyly, her finger on her lips confirming there's more.
Shidou's thrilled but wary. Kurumi's motives are always layered, and he has no insight into her usual activities. "Tohka, long time no see," Kurumi says hesitantly.
"Indeed," Tohka replies, eyes wide. An awkward silence follows, heavy with unresolved tension. Shidou intervenes, "Tohka mentioned feeling watched. Was that you, Kurumi?"
"I was nearby, but didn't expect you to notice," Kurumi admits.
"Just a Kurumi-specific hunch," Shidou grins.
She mutters about someone being surprised, but Shidou scratches his cheek, unable to explain his inexplicable instinct.
"Not me," Tohka insists. "The gaze felt different."
"If that's the case—" Kurumi begins, but both she and Tohka suddenly look skyward. Shidou follows, stunned. The clear blue sky now swirls with massive clouds, unleashing a freak storm in moments—an unnatural phenomenon.
"Run!" Shidou yells. "Tohka! Kurumi!"
Kurumi glares at the storm's center, sensing something Shidou can't. "Kurumi!" he shouts, but Tohka shoves him aside as a metal trash can hurtles through the wind, striking her head. She collapses with a comical yelp.
"Tohka!" Shidou and Kurumi rush to her, shaking and slapping her cheeks, but she's out cold. They can't stay in this storm. "I'll carry her!" Shidou says. "Kurumi, come—"
"Don't move," Kurumi commands, her crimson and gold eyes piercing. "A spirit entered my detection range instantly. Only two could do that."
"Spirits?" Shidou gasps.
"Duck!" she warns.
Two shadows clash in the storm, their collision amplifying the gale. Shidou shields Tohka, barely staying grounded. Kurumi, protecting them, tracks the figures. She initially thought she missed their spiritual signatures due to DEM distractions, but no—these spirits infiltrated her range undetected.
In a calm eye of the storm, a theatrical laugh echoes. A girl with orange hair tied up, silver eyes, and a masochistic-looking spirit dress with broken chains appears—Berserk. "Well done, Yuzuru. My other half," she sneers. "Twenty-five wins, twenty-five losses, forty-nine draws. But today, it ends."
"Objection. Yuzuru will win this hundredth bout," her twin counters, identical but with reversed chains and a listless expression.
They argue over who deserves the title of true Yamai, ignoring Shidou's group. Their dramatic flair makes Shidou and Kurumi wince, recognizing a shared cringe from their own pasts.
"Yuzuru's magic eye never hits," Yuzuru taunts.
"It has!" Kaguya retorts, flustered.
"Kurumi, who are they?" Shidou whispers.
"Spirits," she replies. "You attract them like moths, Shidou-san. Unlike us, they're one entity split in two."
"Split?" Shidou blinks, assuming they were allies like Kurumi and the white spirit. But they're fighting each other.
Kaguya summons a fiercer wind, and Yuzuru readies herself. Kurumi's shadow writhes, signaling combat mode. "Stay back with Tohka," she orders. "Their rampage is inconvenient."
Shidou hesitates. Kurumi's right—spirits are beyond human strength, and Tohka's safety is at stake. But force isn't his way. "No, I'll handle it," he says, stepping forward with a reassuring smile.
As Kaguya and Yuzuru charge, Shidou inhales deeply. His weapon isn't force but dialogue. "STOP!" he roars.
Later
"So, they decided whoever wins Shidou's heart wins their duel?" the white-robed girl asks.
"Don't ask me," Kurumi sighs, exasperated. Even she can't fathom why the Berserk twins turned their fight into a contest for Shidou.
Kurumi had gone to scout DEM but got caught in the spirit chaos. The girl, waiting at the lodge, is baffled. "You reunited with Shidou this soon?"
"Force of nature," Kurumi says. "I borrowed your power to hide, but he sensed me."
"Sensed you?" the girl scoffs. Her cloaking should've been foolproof, yet Shidou's "hunch" defies logic.
"He's an anomaly," she mutters. "Where are they now?"
"Rejoined their class, with the twin spirits in tow," Kurumi replies. "I can't follow, so my clones are watching."
"Clones? You sure?" the girl teases, noting Kurumi's earlier reluctance.
"I'm not that childish," Kurumi insists, sipping tea to mask her unease. A clone emerges from her shadow, reports, and vanishes. "Berserk was one spirit, split into two," Kurumi explains. "They fight to decide the true Yamai."
"Shidou pulling them here? He's a spirit magnet," the girl remarks.
"Lucky, perhaps," Kurumi says. Their encounter is fortunate, but the timing—amid DEM's schemes—complicates things. "They aim to erase each other, yet now they're vying for Shidou. Tricky for him."
Kurumi pauses, thoughtful. "Something on your mind?" the girl asks.
"Nothing concrete," Kurumi deflects, standing. "I'm going back—for DEM… and other reasons."
She smiles slyly. "Stealing Shidou-san's heart is my privilege."
"Good luck, my queen," the girl replies. Their war date never stops.
Hot Springs
Shidou sinks into the open-air bath, exhaustion melting away. The sudden appearance of Kurumi, the Berserk twins, and being roped into their duel as a "judge" overwhelmed him. The twins' insistence on the bath was odd, but he's grateful.
"You seem tired," a voice purrs.
"Been rough," he mumbles, then freezes. "Kurumi?"
"Good evening, Shidou-san. Lovely bath, isn't it?" she says.
"Not a hallucination!" he yelps, shutting his eyes and covering them. Her towel-clad figure—flawless skin, curvaceous form, hair tied back—burns into his memory, shredding his sanity.
"What are you doing!?" he stammers.
"I vowed to make you fall," she teases. "I won't miss this chance."
"I'm fine with you… only you knowing all of me," she whispers.
His brain short-circuits. It's too much, too fast. Temptation screams—he could look, claim this moment. But as she draws closer, their flushed faces inches apart, calling each other's names—
"Well, well, company!" Kaguya interrupts.
"Shock. Unexpected," Yuzuru adds.
They snap back, splashing apart. "Why are you here!?" Shidou yells. "This is the men's bath!"
"Is it?" Kaguya smirks, noting Kurumi. "You resist even her allure?"
"Fierce. Worthy challenge," Yuzuru says.
Kurumi introduces herself, declaring her intent to win Shidou. The twins, also in towels, grin competitively, escalating the surreal scene. They flank Shidou—Kaguya right, Yuzuru left, Kurumi front. His rationality crumbles under their allure, especially Kurumi's flushed beauty.
"You okay, Kurumi? You're red—overheated?" he asks, concerned.
"Nonsense," she protests, then—blub—sinks.
"Kurumi!" Shidou dives, pulling her up. She's dazed, undeniably alluring. "Are you okay!?"
"Calm. Get her out," Yuzuru advises.
"Right!" Kaguya agrees.
Shidou lifts Kurumi, but a familiar voice shouts, "Torya!" Tohka dives in, her dark hair glistening. They lock eyes, stunned.
"Shidou! Why are you here!?" Tohka shrieks.
"Why are you in the men's bath!?" he retorts.
"I followed the red curtain!" she insists.
Shidou glares at the twins, who look away guiltily. They swapped the signs—a setup. "Tohka, I swear I didn't mean this!" he pleads. "Kurumi was tricked too—she fainted!"
He omits Kurumi's ambush, desperate to escape with her. Women's voices approach—classmates. Hiding behind a rock, Shidou panics. Exposure means ruin, jail, or Kurumi's disdain.
"Tohka?" a voice calls.
"She's not at fault," Tohka says, shielding him. "Hide and get Kurumi out."
"Thanks!" Shidou whispers, awed by her trust. But carrying Kurumi out is tough.
"Shidou-san," Kurumi murmurs, steadying herself. She taps the ground, summoning a small shadow. "Into my shadow. It's safe."
"You planned this?" he asks, noting her foresight.
Voices close in—Ai, Mai, Mii. Tohka stalls, but her poor lying makes things obvious. Shidou hesitates, Kurumi's flushed face and barely-covered form pushing his limits. A normal teen, not a saint, he feels the temptation. The thin thread of his rationality snaps—not toward lust, but Shidou's way.
"Thanks, Kurumi, but I've got another plan," he says, stepping back and diving into the sea.
"Shidou-san!?" she cries, her voice fading as the cold water cools his fevered mind.
Later, at the Lodge
Reine, working on her terminal, hears frantic footsteps. Kurumi, in her spirit dress, bursts in, holding a shivering, towel-wrapped Shidou. "Clothes and warmth for Shidou-san!" she gasps.
Reine pauses, then claps. "If that's your goal, use another lodge."
"Wrong!" Kurumi snaps.
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