DEM Industries, UK head office.
Several men were assembled in a conference room on the twentieth floor. All of them were on DEM's board of directors. They sat around an enormous elliptical table with complex expressions on their faces as they sifted through the papers in front of them.
However, that was to be expected.
They had already received reports from a number of sources. The documents at hand merely noted the particulars of the incident.
After DEM's managing director, Isaac Westcott, had improperly wielded his authority in Japan, the DEM Japan branch office and its associated facilities had been half-destroyed. Not to mention the fact that a number of their precious Wizards had been injured or killed, and the cherry on top was that their secret Realizer technology had been on full display for everyone in the area to see. Anyone who could go through these reports and not so much as arch an eyebrow should probably immediately quit the company and take up a new career gambling.
However, not everyone looked upset. One man sat leisurely in the chair at the farthest end of the room.
He was a young man in his mid-thirties, wearing a jet-black suit. Disturbingly dark eyes peered out through the gaps of the dark gray hair which hung down across his forehead, looking out at the conference room. Sir Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott. The very DEM Managing Director who was the subject of discussion.
"What on earth were you thinking, Westcott?!" one board member cried out wildly, hand shaking as he slammed the documents in it against the table. He was a middle-aged man with glasses. He was one of the younger directors, but even so, he appeared to be older than Westcott.
No one in the room reproached him for his aggression toward the MD. Although their feelings varied in degree, everyone was thinking the same thing.
But Westcott himself, looking out at them from his seat at the end of the table, didn't seem the least bit flustered. He merely shrugged, slightly. "I don't understand the intent of the question, Murdock."
"I ask that you not play dumb with us!" Murdock yanked up the papers he'd thrown onto the table to brandish them in front of his face. "Improper interference with the SDF, personal use of Wizards and equipment, instructions for an attack mission that would endanger the general populace, turning a corner of the business district into a battlefield?! At minimum, the cost of the damage is one billion pounds! And now the Japanese government has something significant on us! How exactly do you intend to rectify this situation?!"
"Not a problem," Westcott said. "We got results in line with the scale of damage."
"Results? And what would those be?" Murdock demanded.
The corners of Westcott's mouth slid up. "Rejoice. We succeeded in inverting Princess."
"...!" Murdock and the other board members stared in wide-eyed surprise at Westcott's evident pride. "Are you serious?! Do you not understand the situation here?!" Murdock shouted, his face colored with anger. "One wrong step, and this could very well develop into a threat to the continued existence of DEM Industries! What is this about a Spirit? How exactly will a Spirit save our company in a crisis?! We are through going along with your little games and smug self-satisfaction!"
"Oh?" Westcott wore a mechanical smile on his face, but now one of his eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
But Murdock apparently didn't notice. He turned to look at the board members gathered in the conference room.
"I'd like to ask all of you one simple question! Can we actually allow him to continue to do whatever he pleases? If this keeps up, DEM Industries will be ruined in the not-so-distant future! We should be taking measures to ensure that doesn't happen!"
"Measures?" the man sitting across from Murdock asked.
Murdock threw out his arms theatrically and proclaimed, "I. Am. Demanding the dismissal of Managing Director Westcott, right here and now!"
"-!"
The board members jumped in their seats. Some looked astounded at the demand for dismissal, but more than half of them looked as though they had known about it in advance.
Murdock nodded, assured, as he looked out at their faces, and turned to the elderly man sitting next to Westcott.
"Chairman Russell. Your decision."
At British companies, the managing director was not permitted to also act as the chair of the board of directors. In other words, on paper at least, there needed to be a representative of the board other than Westcott. This was the chair, Russell.
"Is this acceptable, sir?" With a troubled look on his face, Russell glanced over at Westcott.
But Westcott looked entirely unconcerned. "Of course. That is the formal authority given to the board of directors."
"..."
Russell lowered his eyes and sighed as though guessing at something before raising his voice. "Well then. We shall take it to vote. All those in favor of dismissing MD Westcott, raise your hands."
Murdock threw his hand into the air, and other board members followed suit, raising their hands one after another. The majority were younger members.
This was clearly an unusual situation.
Westcott's actions had indeed sent extremely large waves rippling through the company, and more than a few of the directors were increasingly dissatisfied with his arrogant behavior. But it was hard to imagine that more than half of them would be in agreement with Murdock in a supposedly sudden vote.
Westcott looked at Murdock, who sniffed triumphantly as a sneer spread across his lips. Most likely, he had talked to people in secret before Westcott returned to England.
Russell sent his gaze around the conference room to count the hands in the air and said, quietly, "Given that we have zero hands in favor, the request to dismiss MD Westcott is rejected."
"What?" Murdock furrowed his brow. "Set aside the jokes, Russell. You must think of your pride as the chair. Or is it that your eyesight has gotten so poor that you can't see the number of hands up?"
"No," Russell told him. "I am merely telling you the results as I see them."
"What?" Murdock said, doubting his ears, and looked up. And gasped.
Following his gaze, the other directors with their hands up also screwed up their faces in anguish.
It was unavoidable. Their raised arms were gone from the elbow.
"Ungh. Ah! Ah! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!" Murdock screamed and crumpled to the floor, as if only feeling pain now that he noticed his sudden lack of a hand. Fresh blood began to gush from the smooth cross section below his elbow. The conference room was instantly transformed into the very portrait of an agonizing hell.
"Games? Smug superiority?" A calm voice came from behind Westcott. "Quite the statement from someone who only came aboard after Ike elevated the DEM name, hmm?"
A girl with pale blond hair stepped forward, seeming quite out of place at this meeting. In one of her hands, she held a laser edge about the size of a paring knife.
Given that she was able to maintain a blade on the laser edge without a wiring suit, something that was generally considered impossible, and that on top of that, she had been able to extend the blade into a long, thin thread to cut off the hands of the board members all at once, the extent of her abilities was quite obvious.
Ellen M. Mathers. Head of the second enforcement division, which wielded the real power behind the scenes at DEM, and the most powerful Wizard in the world.
"Now, don't say that, Ellen," Westcott chided her. "He was simply and quite naturally taking advantage of the situation in which he'd been placed, and exercising the authority given to him."
"But..." Ellen persisted, and Westcott stopped her as he stood up slowly.
"Medical Realizers are on standby in the medical office. If you reattach the limbs right away, you'll no doubt be back to your old selves in a few days. Go. You're all excellent human resources, shouldering the future of DEM. Don't you think it would be rather absurd to lose an arm over a thing like this?"
"...! You!" Dropping all pretense of politeness, Murdock glared at Westcott.
But Westcott ignored him. "Have no fear. Once my little games and smug self-satisfaction reach their natural conclusion, I'll hand this company over to all of you. And you won't even have to wait nearly as long as we have to get this far." He laughed quietly.
◇
"Thank you." Lucas said to the delivery driver.
Saturday, October 21. It had already been five days since Natsumi showed up at school pretending to be him and Shidou, and he hadn't seen her once since then. There had been no spacequakes, and Fraxinus's measurement devices hadn't picked up any trace of her. Neither did he sense her presence anywhere in Tenguu City.
The doorbell rang, and the delivery driver gave him multiple packages. These were all package delivered from the USA, which meant they're probably prototype Realizers and other stuff. They have been coming regularly every week ever since he returned to Japan. They were quite the pain since Lucas had to write documents for each one of them. It has been a while since the last batch came.
He took the packages and carried them up the stairs to his room. Well, technically not his room, but the secret room next to it. He placed them onto the floor and went downstairs again. He hasn't checked the mailbox in the past week, so he might as well empty it out right now. As expected, there were a few mails, most of them newsletters. But one in particular stood out the most.
"This is...?" There was no postal number or address on it. And no stamp. On the back of the letter, his name, "Kunshu Lucas" was written. He turned the letter around, and finally saw the name of the person who send him this letter.
"Natsumi?!" Lucas shouted the name, and his eyes flung open. He raced upstairs to look at the letter in closer detail. "..." Lucas hesitated to open the letter. He gazed at it sharply, and made sure there was no trace of Reiryoku on it. "Seems harmless."
Swallowing hard, Lucas ripped open the seal. "Huh?"
In the letter were multiple images. "This is...Kurumi?" Yes, the envelope contained a picture of Kurumi. And it wasn't just Kurumi. There were a total of thirteen photos in the envelope, and all of them were full-body shots of people close to him and Shidou-Tohka, Origami, Kotori, Yoshino, Kurumi, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Miku, Ai, Mai, Mii, Tama, and Tonomachi. All taken without the subject knowing they were being photographed. (Except for Origami and Kurumi, who were turned toward the camera as though they had noticed it.)
Along with those pictures came a small card.
"I'm in here. Can you guess who I am? Before anyone disappears.
Natsumi"
◇
The next day, October 22, 10:59 AM.
Shidou stood in front of the Itsuka house, looking at the time displayed on his cell phone.
It was a crisp fall day, a bit chilly for short sleeves. From time to time, a brisk breeze rustled the red leaves of the trees and caressed his cheeks as it passed up into the sky.
"Shidou!"
Just as the time changed to 11:00, he heard a bright voice from the entrance to the apartment building rising up next to the Itsuka house.
When he looked in that direction, Tohka was waving innocently and running over to him, wearing her fall uniform. He raised his hand in response.
"Sorry," she said. "Were you waiting?"
"No, you're right on time," he told her. "I'm the one who should be sorry, asking you out of the blue like this."
"Don't worry about it! Anyway, where are we going shopping today?!" Tohka asked, eyes shining.
The night before, Shidou had told her he wanted her to come shopping with him
"Oh. Right." He nodded. "How about we head for the station to start?"
"Mm!" Tohka said, enthusiastically. She looked like she was so excited about going out with Shidou that she could hardly stand it.
Happiness, embarrassment, fondness, and all kinds of other emotions swirled inside of Shidou, and he smiled awkwardly.
"...Shin, don't forget today's objective, okay?"
At the sound of Reine's voice suddenly in his right ear, Shidou jumped a little.
"R-right," he replied, quietly, and glanced at Tohka walking next to him. The usual Tohka, her usual face. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except maybe. "..." Shidou gulped.
The image of the other Shidou at school a few days ago flitted through the back of his mind.
Yes. This Tohka could be a fake-an impersonation by Natsumi.
Staring at her face silently, Shidou recalled the conversation he'd had with Kotori the day before.
" 'I'm in here. Can you guess who I am,' " Kotori said, looking troubled, as she stared at the card that had been in the envelope with the pictures.
"Wh-what does that mean?" he asked.
"...Well..." Kotori had called Reine down from Fraxinus, and Lucas from his house nearby to discuss the situation. Lucas had apparently also gotten the same letter from Natsumi. Kotori lined up the thirteen photos on the table as she said, "...If we take it at face value, it means that Natsumi has turned herself into one of these thirteen people."
"...!" Shidou gasped. Although he had more or less guessed that.
The ability he'd seen Natsumi use, the Angel's power to reproduce Shidou's and Lucas' exact appearance-she could easily use that to turn into someone else, too.
"And she's saying we have to try and guess who she's turned into," Lucas said, slowly.
"That is what it looks like, hmm?" Kotori said, crossing her arms.
"What's bugging me though is.... what does she mean by 'disappears' ?" Lucas pointed out the last sentence on the card.
Shidou swallowed hard. "Maybe...there's a time limit?"
"That might as well be it," Kotori agreed. "To be honest, we don't have enough information to go on."
"...At any rate, we need to get moving right away," Reine said, troubled, as she looked at the photos and put a hand to her mouth.
"Get moving? I mean, what exactly do we do?" Shidou asked.
"Right." Kotori flicked up the stick of the Chupa Chups in her mouth. "First, Ratatoskr will check for a Spirit signal on everyone in the photos. We're up against a Spirit who wields consummate power. It'd really speed things up if there was even a hint of Spirit power radiating from one of them."
"Save your time. When Natsumi transformed into me or Shidou, I couldn't tell a difference at all." Lucas told them. "I don't think there will be any Spirit Signal whatsoever."
Reine and Kotori nodded in agreement. "Still, it would be for the better. In the mean time, we will put you both to work."
"Okay. What do you want us to do?" Shidou said as he clenched his hands into fists. Although he still didn't know how, this had all started because Shidou and Lucas upset Natsumi somehow when they first met. And now she'd dragged their friends into it. He couldn't just sit back and watch.
However.
"...Let's see," Reine said. "Given the situation, you could decide on an order for the dates."
"...Huh?" Shidou responded, idiotically. "Date...? Wh-what do you mean?"
"Mm. So you want us to go on a date with each person on the thirteen pictures to determine who can possibly be Natsumi, am I right?"
"Exactly that." Kotori confirmed. Natsumi might have had the ability to transform into anyone and reproduce external elements like appearance and voice, but in an actual conversation, they might be able to pick up on cues that the person was different from their usual self.
But that didn't mean this will be an easy task, however.
"But look at all these pictures," Shidou said, sweat soaking his brow. "Dates with everyone, huh?"
"...Mm-hmm," Reine replied. "Of course, you two won't be able to get to all of them in a single day. Even if you hurry, three or four people a day fir each of you is probably the limit."
"No, that's not it." Shidou shook his head. "I mean, Tohka and them are one thing. But this means I have to ask Yamabuki, Hazakura, Fujibakama, Tama, and even...Tonomachi out on dates, right?"
"Well... that depends on who you want to take on a date. If you don't want to, I can atleast take over the trio. You have a special case with Tama and Tonomachi."
"Nng.. you know?" Shidou bitterly asked.
Reine nodded, slightly. "...Of course, we'll give you the maximum support possible. Out of Natsumi's sight, though."
"Okay," Shidou said. "And you have to back me up again this time, too, Kotori."
But Kotori only frowned.
Reine spoke up. "...Oh, sorry, but Kotori can't be part of the back-up crew this time."
"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow. "She can't?"
"Well, of course I can't. I mean, I'm one of the suspects," Kotori said, sniffing imperiously.
Shidou's eyes flew open. "Oh!"
"...That's how it is. I'll be taking the lead on this one. Sorry, Kotori. But until we determine who Natsumi is, we can't let you onto Fraxinus."
"Mm-hmm. A necessary measure. No way around it." Kotori nodded, surprisingly fine with Reine's decision. She had no doubt anticipated this the moment she saw her own photo in the envelope from Natsumi.
And it made sense to keep her off the ship. Although he hadn't noticed anything off about Kotori during their conversation, given that there was a non-zero chance that she was Natsumi, she couldn't be allowed into the heart of Ratatoskr. He shivered in fear at the thought of a hostile Spirit suddenly appearing on the bridge. Given that Reine was not among the suspects, she was the logical choice to provide support on this mission.
"But I wonder why you aren't in here, Reine," he said. "I mean, Tama and Yamabuki and the others are."
"...Mm. This is absolutely nothing more than a guess," she said. "But it's probably because I wasn't around when Natsumi was choosing her potential targets. I've been holed up on Fraxinus doing the analysis on Natsumi."
"Everyone on Fraxinus is not included, so it makes sense." Lucas said.
"O-Oh, I see." Shidou nodded.
Kotori cleared her throat as if to get the conversation back on track. "Anyway. A win for us is to make Natsumi weak in the knees and seal her Spirit powers. Make sure you pay very careful attention to every little detail."
She scowled in annoyance and clenched her jaw.
"If Natsumi's mood destabilizes any more than this, then not only will we not be able to seal her, but we might risk a hostage situation."
"...?!" Shidou felt his heart constrict. "H-hang on a minute. What hostage?"
"...Think about it," Reine told him. "Natsumi's telling you to find her in among these people. If there are two people with the same face, then that dramatically narrows it down."
"...!" Lucas' shoulders jumped
"...! Then..." And fear colored Shidou's face.
Reine was exactly right. After all, when Natsumi had turned into Shidou, it was only when she was standing next to the real Shidou that Tohka and Origami could pick out the genuine article. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
In which case, what would she do? The answer was extremely simple.
"She'll have locked up the person she's impersonating somewhere," Lucas said, reluctantly.
"I guess that's what'll happen," Kotori agreed, scowling. "We've got no wiggle room here. We'll split all thirteen up over three days and do whatever it takes to find Natsumi. Of course, the girls who you two individually sealed are in your own care, Lucas. Shidou."
"Yeah. We're definitely going to find her." Shidou clenched his fists and nodded, firmly.
"...We won't let anyone dissappear."
And so there he was, on a date.
Shidou glanced over at Tohka.
"Hmm? Something wrong, Shidou?"
"Oh, no, nothing..."
Tohka met his eyes abruptly, and he looked away awkwardly. Scratching his cheek, he quickened his pace a tiny bit.
It wasn't just her face, body, or voice-the way she tilted her head, her gestures that were reminiscent of a small animal, all of it was perfectly and completely the Tohka in Shidou's memory. At the very least, she didn't seem like a fake.
But wasn't that very perfection actually suspect? His head spun in confusion.
Perhaps picking up on this, Reine spoke through his earpiece, "...Relax. If Natsumi did turn into Tohka, you're not going to catch her by acting normally. It might be good for you to try and shake her up a bit."
"What do you mean?" Shidou replied, in a quiet voice, and sank into thought before turning his gaze toward Tohka once again. "H-hey, Tohka? How long's it been since the two of us went out together like this?"
"Hmm? Where'd that come from?" Tohka turned curious eyes on him.
"Oh, just popped into my head." Shidou waved his hand, absently. "I was thinking we haven't really been alone together lately."
"We haven't? I feel like we went to get groceries a couple days ago, though."
"Oh. Did we?" Shidou nodded to himself. They had gone to do the shopping the day he met Natsumi. It seemed that she clearly remembered that.
"But you know, that's that," she added, quickly with a guileless smile, perhaps misinterpreting his silence. "I think it's good to go out as many times as we can. Mm-hmm, I'm super happy today. It's going to be fun."
Shidou's own face grew hot at how adorable she looked. But now was not the time for that.
He forced a bold smile and swallowed hard before opening his mouth. "Pretty amazing work. The spitting image of Tohka. Hmm, Natsumi?"
"...!" Tohka jumped and stopped in her tracks.
Shrinking slightly at her reaction, Shidou also came to a stop.
He didn't have any actual proof. It was just a stab in the dark. He actually thought that even if this Tohka was a fake created by Natsumi, she might not react to his leading question at all.
But the way Tohka was reacting... She couldn't actually be...
Shidou stiffened, nervously, as Tohka slowly turned toward him, eyes filled with a level of hostility he couldn't imagine in the real Tohka.
"No way. You're really...?"
However.
"Shidou. Who is this 'Natsumi'?" she demanded. "Did you just call me by another girl's name?"
"Huh?" Shidou felt his clenched fist loosen.
Tohka wasn't upset that her true identity had been found out; she was simply unhappy.
"...Shin. You are supposedly in the middle of a date. I think it's only natural that she would be upset at being called by another girl's name."
"Oh. I-I guess you're right," he murmured, nervously, and he spread out his hands to placate the deeply suspicious Tohka.
"S-sorry. Come on, you know. Haven't you ever heard anyone say 'natsuumi'? It's this greeting from the Dominican Republic that's pretty popular lately."
"It is?" she asked, her face softening.
Of course, he was completely making this up. Shidou internally apologized to the Dominican people as he nodded.
"Hmm," she said, thoughtfully. "What's it mean?"
"Uh. Umm. Something like, I love you," he replied, randomly.
"Mm!" Tohka's cheeks reddened slightly. "Mm... Oh, really? Hee hee!"
It seemed Shidou had dodged that bullet. He let out a sigh of relief.
But then her shoulders stiffened again. "So what was that whole 'spitting image of Tohka' part?"
"Huh? Oh. Umm, that was..." Shidou stammered, unable to think up a decent lie. He could see her eyes start to narrow, suspiciously, again.
"...This is bad," Reine interjected. "It's all over if Tohka gets upset. Can't you do something to put her in a better mood again?"
"Do something? It's not that easy." Shidou's eyebrows drew together as he looked around. "Oh! H-hey, Tohka? You haven't had lunch yet, right? It's a bit early, but how about we go grab a bite?"
He pointed to a restaurant on the other side of the road. Below the sign with the name was a poster that read Lunch buffet open now!
"Hmm? Lunch? Well...sure, I guess," Tohka said, still pouting. Normally, her eyes would shine with excitement at the thought of lunch, but well, he supposed he'd have to take this.
With Tohka trailing behind him, a troubled look on her face, Shidou entered the restaurant.
Given that it was lunchtime, it was fairly busy, but fortunately, they were able to get a table right away. He tossed his bag under his chair and looked at Tohka across from him, as he wiped his hands.
"So, Tohka. This place has a buffet. You go ahead and get a plate first."
"Mm." Her face brightened for a second, but then she shook her head as if she'd remembered something. "I'll go after you, Shidou."
"Huh?" He frowned. "Why?"
"Because. So hurry up. Go." Tohka stubbornly refused to yield.
"O-okay." Shidou stood up. "What's up with her anyway?"
"...I don't know. But if you just do what she wants here, you should be in the clear," Reine said.
"I guess," Shidou replied, before walking over to the area with all the different meals on display. He picked up a plate, filled it with a bunch of different things, and returned to their table.
However, maybe because of his nerves and the pressure to find Natsumi, he didn't exactly have much of an appetite. The plate he brought back had little more than a bit of salad and some grilled chicken on it.
"Okay, you go and get yours, Tohka," he said.
"...Mm." Tohka gave his plate a hard look before standing up.
He cocked his head to the side as he watched her go. He had thought she was still thinking about his slip-up from before. But this felt different somehow. What exactly could put that cloudy look on her face at mealtime?
While he was thinking about this, Tohka returned, unexpectedly quickly. She set the plate in her hand on the table and sat down.
"Okay, how about we start eating then?" she said.
"Yeah, you bet." Shidou was about to dig in when he suddenly frowned.
The reason was simple. Tohka had brought back barely any food. Even less than appetite-less Shidou.
"Tohka?" he said. "Is that going to be enough for you?"
"Mm." She nodded. "Yes. This is all I need for my tummy to be full to bursting."
"...?!" Shidou felt a shiver of fear. It wasn't possible. There was just too little on the plate sitting before Tohka. Even a high school girl with a tiny stomach wouldn't be satisfied with these meager offerings. And Tohka was a glutton, far surpassing anyone else Shidou knew. That amount of food would never hold her over until supper. He remembered the words when Lucas talked about Natsumi's past. He remembered Lucas mentioning how Natsumi was severely underweight. Which meant this Tohka might actually be...
"Reine!" he said.
"...Calm down," Reine replied, coolly. "We'll watch and wait for now."
Shidou placed a hand on his chest to try and calm his pounding heart and turned back to Tohka. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
"Why? Well, I mean." He glanced at her plate, but Tohka appeared not to notice.
She clapped her hands. "Anyway, let's eat!"
"R-right. We should eat." Shidou began to tuck into the food on his plate.
"That was great," Tohka said gloomily.
"Huh?!" His eyebrows jumped up on his forehead when he looked across the table and saw that Tohka's plate was empty. "Y-you're done already?"
"...Mm-hmm. It was good." Tohka clapped her hands together once more. But she was clearly not satisfied.
"Tohka," he said. "Are you sure you had enough?"
"O-of course I did!" She hurriedly nodded. But in that moment, a puppy bark came from her stomach. Ruk.
"Umm. What was that?"
"Th-this is plenty for me."
Grrrr. Ruk ruk ruk.
"Tohka?"
"I-I'm telling you I'm fine!"
Grrr. Grar grar grar grar.
The remarkably loud sounds emanating from her stomach made Tohka hang her head.
"N-ngh!" Shidou furrowed his brow, doubtfully. "See? That really isn't enough. What's up with you today?"
Tohka was quiet for a moment and then lifted her face in resignation. "On TV yesterday, they were talking about how a girl who eats too much is a turnoff..."
"Huh?"
"And...I didn't want to be a turnoff for you, Shidou, so..." Tohka shrank into herself in embarrassment.
Shidou exhaled like it all made sense now. "I actually prefer girls who enjoy eating a whole lot," he told her.
"R-really?!" Her eyes lit up.
"Yeah," he said. "In fact, it makes me sad when food goes unfinished."
Tohka gasped before nodding forcefully and leaping to her feet. She marched over to the buffet area, filled a big plate with as much food as she could cram onto it, and returned. The other diners and the wait staff stared after her in shock.
But Tohka paid them no mind at all. "Time to eat!"
◇
At the same time, at Lucas' residence. Lucas was tasked to go on a date with Yuzuru first. He dressed up in his usual outfit as always. Black jeans, and a white shirt similar to his summer uniform. But since it was a little windy, Lucas decided to take on a thin black jacket.
And as much as he hated it, an eyepatch that covers his left eye. He could grow his bangs like Kurumi, but that would take time. And his hair hasn't grown that much over these five years, so maybe it's impossible.
Before he suck deep into his thoughts, the door opened again. Out of it came, as expected, Yuzuru. Glamorous in a patterned, long-sleeved blouse and a flared black skirt. She looked absolutely gorgeous. Lucas could only stare stunned at her.
"Delay. I'm sorry for being late." Yuzuru apologized. It was only been a few minutes.
"It's fine. Wanna get going?"
"Answer. Yes, let's go." Yuzuru nodded, and walked right beside Lucas. Although he didn't have enough time to prepare a perfect date, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Lucas knows quite a lot of good places in Tenguu. Including a quite romantic one when viewed from that point, especially when it's darker.
But the mission wasn't to have a good date. The real mission was to find out if Yuzuru is the real deal or not. Just glancing at her, Lucas couldn't tell any difference in her vibe or aura. Nor any Spirit Signal. Her mannerisms were the exact same as always.
Lucas ran his hand through his hair, feeling that something was off somehow. It wasn't that he had any issue with Yuzuru's behavior. If he had to say, it might just have been the effect of the oddity of there being only one of the Yamai sisters when he was used to seeing two. It was no exaggeration to say that since Lucas had sealed their Spirit powers, the sisters were always together except when they went to the washroom.
"Unease. Why are you staring at Yuzuru so much?"
"...!" Lucas' shoulders jumped.
As if guessing at this thought from his gaze, Yuzuru shrugged, exasperated. "Sigh. Is Yuzuru alone insufficient?"
"No, it's not that at all. I was just thinking it was a little bit strange," he told her.
"Negation. There is no need for you to be delicate. Yuzuru and Kaguya are two hearts beating as one. In fact, your reaction is proof that Yuzuru and Kaguya are bound together." She grinned boldly. "Question. Why did you ask me on a date completely out of the blue?"
"Oh, well, I thought I could spend some quality time alone with you," he told her. "Is that not allowed?"
Her eyes grew round in surprise. "Negation. It's not not allowed. But if that's the case..." She smiled, took his arm, and pulled herself in close. Her ample bust pressed against his arm.
"Y-Yuzuru?" he stammered.
"Monopoly. Today alone, you belong to Yuzuru. And today alone, Yuzuru belongs to you. Isn't that right?" she said, her sweet breath tickling his neck.
He unconsciously blushed at her bewitching manner, so unlike how she normally cavorted with Kaguya.
"Yeah. We should get going now." Lucas instinctively grabbed Yuzuru's hand and together, they walked the way to the center of Tenguu. Naturally, it was filled with a lot of people. It was the middle of the day after all. The city was at full bloom. "There's a place that I want to check out. Do you mind going there?"
"Follow. Of course I'll go with you, Lucas."
Soon, they arrived at their destination, Tenguu Quintet, a new mixed-use commercial facility that had only been completed the previous year. Nearby were a hotel, an indoor amusement park, a movie theater, and a shopping mall managed by the same group, and together, they almost made up their own little town. It was very popular as a new tourist destination, and there were a lot of people in the area, even though it was a weekday. They stood infront of a large entrance with a sign on the top that resembled a fish.
"Curious. Is this an Aquarium?"
"Yeah." Lucas nodded. "I hate to admit it, but I've actually never been in an aquarium before." Lucas forced a little laugh and scratched the back of his head. "Did you want to go somewhere else?"
"Negative. Not really. Let's go inside." Yuzuru shook her head, and pulled on Lucas' arm. Lucas bought two tickets at the register, and they headed inside.
"Surprise. This looks amazing." One wall of the building was all glass, containing fish of every size on the other side. It was on a scale that made even Lucas sigh in admiration. It was only natural that Yuzuru would have been surprised.
"Pretty, right?"
"Agreement. Very pretty." As she spoke, she let go of his hand, staggered forward, and planted her hands on the glass wall. A school of small fish cut in front of her.
"...!" Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she chased after the school with her gaze. She looked strangely cute, and he smiled without realizing it.
"Haha. Hey Yuzuru, let's keep going." Lucas took her hand again, and followed the path everyone else there took. It led into a large cylinder shaped room. Almost like the first room, the walls here were also completely made out of glass. The glass went all around the wall, like a 360 degree glass aquarium.
"Woah..."
"Amazement. This is incredible."
The two were stunned of the sight. Not only was it an amazing view, but even the species of the fish was special. Those weren't just ordinary fish. They were rare species.
One of the fish that stood out in Lucas' eyes was a gold fish. It was small, thin, and had a long mouth on the front. The species itself wasn't out of the ordinary. But what was a golden gar. Only one in ten thousand of those fish are colored gold.
It's a recessive gene that causes this coloration. It was the only golden gar Lucas saw in the entire aquarium. Getting their hands on one was probably a hassle and costs probably a huge sum of money.
"Question. Lucas, where does this go to?" Yuzuru tugged on his shirt, pointing at the stairs case that led to somewhere up.
"Dunno. Let's check it out though. It seems a lot of people go that way. Going up the stairs, Lucas' eyes were blinded by the luminous sun light coming from above. Lucas covered this eye slightly, just barely enough left to see his footing. Once they got up completely, a loud splash echoed throughout the area and Lucas and Yuzuru opened their eyes to the most spectacular scene they've seen. An arena, and in the middle people swimming and dancing alongside Killer Whales.
"Wow..."
"Astonishment. This..." Yuzuru couldn't even describe this moment. It was absolutely amazing. She couldn't even blink.
"Let's sit down. We'll get wet if we stay here.
They sat down at one of the free seats in the front. The show was absolutely incredible, and the swimmers were masters at their work. Every single movement was damn near perfect, and the communication between the whales and the swimmers were on point.
But right then, just before the show came to close, something bad happened.
"""-!""" The entire stadium' audience screamed. It was ear breaking, but the reason for it was a bad one, worthy of such screams. They all witnessed at how the killer whale, called Keiko by the swimmers, grabbed the swimmer by the leg, and pulled her down.
"-!" Without hesitation, Lucas jumped into the pool of water. On an amazing day like this, and a place like this. It was no time or spot to die a gruesome death. He dived into the water with all his clothes still on, and swum all the way down to the Killer Whale. The pressure underwater was intense for ordinary human beings. And as Lucas had expected, the swimmer was lifelessly dragged around by the killer whale.
"...!" Lucas swum at an incredible pace to the killer whale, maybe even faster than the killer whale itself. He grabbed the killer whale by the mouth, placed his hands in between it's mouth, and forced it open with his arms. He placed his foot on the whales mouth, and gently pushed it deeper in the water. Lucas grabbed the lifeless body of the swimmer, and dragged her all the way up to the surface.
"Pwah..!" Lucas let out his breath. He swum to the platform just beside the pool, where the other swimmer was resting on. He dragged the lifeless swimmer out of the water first, before jumping out too.
"Damn it....!" Lucas put his ear close to her mouth, and he couldn't hear any breathing.
He put his hands above her chest, and pushed down multiple times. The situation was tense. He could feel the entire audience holding their breaths. But there was nothing coming from the women just yet. Lucas had no other choice. Even though Yuzuru was watching, he still had to do it. "Haaah...!" Lucas inhaled all the oxygen he can deliver to his lungs, and in a quick move, pressed his lips onto hers and pushed it all out again.
"...?!" Yuzuru felt like an invisible hand was squeezing her heart when she saw Lucas kissing another women. A women he or she had never seen before. "Pain. Nngh..."
Lucas repeated his mouth-to-mouth procedure. Endless times. His head felt empty from all the breathing in and out, like children when they use too much energy to blow a balloon up.
"Mpmh..!" Right then, when Lucas pressed his lips against hers again, the women's eyes flew wide open.
"Mmph?!" She felt like her lungs were exploding. All the air that was delivered to her expanded her lungs to their limits. She instinctively clenched her fist and threw a punch at Lucas face.
"Blffo-?!" Lucas made a weird noise, and fell back into the water.
"What are you doing, you pervert?!" The women cried out, tears in her eyes. But right then, the crowd exploded in an applause.
"Yaaaaaaaah!!!" It filled the entire stadium and the area outside the aquarium as well.
"Huh..?" Her mind was still hazy, but when she touched herself on the face a few times, she realized she was...still alive.
"Man..." Lucas got out of the water, and shook his head back and forth like a dog who got wet. At that point, the black dye on his hair had come off a bit, revealing his white hair. The chlorine in the water must've worn out the dye in his hair. He did wash his hair a few dozen of times, and the hair was almost ready to get dyed again. "Are you alright?"
"Y-you...." She now realized, the person who had saved her from drowning was the person she just punched straight into the face. She looked up to the person that stood right next to her. The sun was blinding, and she couldn't quite figure out his face.
Looking down at the swimmer, Lucas twirled around and returned to the seat where he was before.
The white and black hair imprinted itself deep into her brain. Not a name, not any face. Nothing.
"...?" Glancing down, she saw a white eye patch. She quickly grabbed it, and pressed it against her body, like a hug. I'll never forget this moment. She thought to herself. This person. The person she couldn't see due to the sunlight from above, the person who had apparently kissed her.
"...Let's get out of here, Yuzuru."
"...?!" Lucas yanked up her body, carrying her like a princess. At incredible speed, Lucas ran out of the stadium, to the exit. After what felt like a minute or so, they were in an empty alley. It felt like it was completely disconnected from the world around them.
"Phew... that was unexpected." Lucas quickly created a whirl of warm wind around him, like a heat wave that came from a hair dryer but on human scale. This was a mixture of heat and wind generated by his magic. In a matter of seconds, his clothes were completely dry, and everything else.
"Oh...I lost my eye patch."
"Outrage. What was that? Why did you kiss another women just now?" Yuzuru asked, glaring at him from under half-lidded eyes. She was definitely not happy whatsoever.
"T-that wasn't a kiss! I was performing CPR because she wasn't breathing!" Lucas protested.
"Displeasure. Is that so?" Yuzuru shrugged. "Amnesty. Yuzuru is generous of heart. However, I do want compensation."
"C-Compensation?" Lucas repeated her words. What could she want for compensation? But before Lucas could come to any method of compensating, he felt a warm sensation overlap his lips.
"....?!"
That's right. Yuzuru put her hands on his face and pulled him closer to her, and without any prior warning, she pressed her lips onto his. A kiss.
"...." It was a pleasuring feeling. It felt so warm, yet so cooling. Her soft lips felt like clouds. As if trying to get into the atmosphere, Lucas placed his hands around her waist and hip, and pressed her body a little closer to him.
After a while, Yuzuru let go, and Lucas did as well.
"...." Lucas flushed a little red, and he scratched his cheek.
"Satisfaction. Thank you for that kiss. It was really nice."
"...Sure."
Without exchanging another word, they held hands once more, and walked down the way they had previously taken. They weren't really talking after that incident. Just being quiet, as if that never happened. All the while, Lucas forcefully shut his left eye. He can't reveal this inhumane eye to the public. Let alone with all the staring that people do on his weird appearance due to his weird hair. And a bigger problem was the media. Lucas definitely has to cyber attack most of the websites that include a picture of him. Extra attention is not needed.
As they walked down the shopping district, Lucas noticed a shop where he can finally buy what he needed the most r8ght now.
"Oh, Yuzuru. There's a pharmacy. We can get a new eye-patch there." Lucas pointed towards the drug store right next to the jewelry store. "I'll be right back." Lucas stormed off into the Pharmacy without Yuzuru.
"..." Yuzuru looked blankly, and pressed her finger on her lips. "Blush."
After a few minutes, Lucas came out with a new eye patch, similar to the one Kurumi gave him. The design didn't really matter anyway. But it was just as uncomfortable.
"Hm?" Lucas noticed that Yuzuru wasn't waiting where he left her. Instead, she was right infront of the glass showcase window of the jewelry store.
"...." Yuzuru stared at a pretty expensive piece. A necklace. It was made out of ten karat gold, and in the middle, it had a shining red ruby. It was a Celtic Design, with a heart coated in diamonds. It was really pretty, and fitting of a beauty like Yuzuru. Thinking about it, Lucas has never bought any accessories or jewelry for Kurumi in the past. This would be a first time.
"Want me to buy that for you?" Lucas said, and Yuzuru's head turned towards him in an instant. Apparently, she didn't realize Lucas was standing right next to her.
"Negative," Yuzuru shook her head. "It's too expensive."
"It's fine, it's fine." Lucas waved his hand. "Money is not an issue."
"..." Yuzuru thought about it for a moment. "Petition. Lucas, will you buy this for me?"
"...Aah. Of course." He replied with a smile.
They went inside the store, and after a while Yuzuru came out with the same necklace she was looking at around her neck.
They walked the way Lucas had chosen. The sun was starting to settle, and by Lucas' calculations, they should arrive at around the time when the sun is at its lowest before night hits.
"Gratitude. Thank you very much, Lucas."
"Don't worry about it. Although, it's only a synthetic ruby and diamonds... is that really alright? I could've gotten you one with a real ruby and diamonds."
"Absurd. That would only drive up the cost to the millions."
"I told you, didn't I? Money isn't an issue at all."
I still have so much money left after all...!
Yuzuru shook her head left and right. "Grateful. I'm happy with this one." She said, fiddling around with the necklace.
"...Right. Totally forgot." Lucas muttered, too quiet for Yuzuru to hear. Lucas completely forgot about the mission. The mission to find Natsumi. But... with what happened today, and with the way Yuzuru acted, it was too perfect. Natsumi might be a talent in copycat, but going as far to even kiss Lucas is very unlikely. Still, there's a non zero chance. His mind quickly had a flashback of the time Natsumi pecked his lips before she turned into a Spirit. And there wouldn't be any risk of sealing her powers since the mental levels aren't close to the point of sealing her.
After a bit of a walk, they arrived at the destination Lucas wanted for her to see. The park on the hill, just a few minutes of walk from their house. This isn't any special place where a lot of people go, but it's a great spot to view the city, especially at night. They walked around the outskirts of the park at a leisurely pace. High up on the hill as it was, the place had a view of the whole of Tenguu, the city where Lucas and his friends lived. The electrical lights twinkled like stars in the dark streets.
"Wonder. It's so beautiful."
"Yeah. It really is," Lucas replied, honestly, and Yuzuru looked at his face, with half-lidded eyes. "Wh-what?"
"Point. When a woman says 'it's beautiful,' it is considered appropriate for the man to reply, 'You are more beautiful.'"
"Ooh... sorry, I totally forgot." Lucas scratched his head and then said the line Yuzuru was waiting for. "You're more beautiful, Yuzuru."
"Smile. Hee hee! Am I really?" Her cheeks flushed slightly, a small smile on her lips.
His heart automatically started to beat faster at the adorable look on her face. Truth be told, the most relaxing thing in the world for Lucas is seeing the girls, Kurumi, Kaguya and Yuzuru, simply being happy. That's all he needs. A gentle smile from the ones he treasures most.
"Hail. Lucas?" she said, softly.
"Hmm? What is it?" he replied.
Yuzuru cleared her throat before continuing. "Petition. Please answer honestly."
"Okay... So what is it?"
"Question. Who do you prefer, Lucas? Yuzuru or Kaguya?"
"Huh?" He stared, stunned by the unexpected question. He awkwardly stammered, "Why would you...?"
Yuzuru's intent stare did not waver. She didn't look like she was making a joke or fooling around. "I can't just choose one of you. I care for both of you," he told her.
Yuzuru shrugged in resignation. "Sneer. My goodness. So you chose the weakest, most pathetic response, hmm?"
"Buzz off, as if I can just decide something like that out of the blue!" Lucas cried.
"Confirmation. Then if I give you a preparation period, will you answer me properly?"
"Ungh...!" He was at a loss for words.
Yuzuru sighed again.
Lucas thought about it a bit. "So you wanted me to choose one of you."
"Consideration. I suppose." Yuzuru put a finger to her chin as if thinking this over. And then she turned her gaze on Lucas once more. "Answer. If you choose Kaguya, then I will praise you and tell you that you are good and smart. If you choose Yuzuru, I will flip." She smiled mischievously. Kaguya and Yuzuru were like that. They each love-love-loved the other more than their own selves.
"Good to know," he said, with a sigh.
"Addition. But if you choose Yuzuru...I would be happy."
"Huh?" Lucas felt his heart pound harder. And glued to his side the way she was, Yuzuru might have also noticed this. He shook his head vigorously, and tried to distract her from the thumping of his heart. "You already know I'm stubborn. I'll just create a third option."
"Sign. I'm disappointed in you. Useless."
"...." He couldn't say anything in response to that.
Yuzuru paid this no mind. "But," she added. "Petition. If. This is an if. If Kaguya asks you the same question as Yuzuru just now...please make sure you reply 'Kaguya.' "
"Huh? That's..." He didn't know what to say.
"Prediction. Kaguya will definitely be angry. Something like, 'Why didn't you choose Yuzuru!' But in her heart, she will be unbearably happy."
"Yuzuru..."
"Conviction. Kaguya is normally like that, but she adores you, Lucas. I'm telling you this, so there's no mistake. Yuzuru and Kaguya were originally one. The things Yuzuru hates, Kaguya also hates. In the same way, the things Yuzuru likes, Kaguya loves."
"That's..." His eyebrows jumped up, and Yuzuru eyes widened a bit.
She put a hand to her mouth and pulled away from Lucas. "Careless. That was extra information. I will depart before I say any other unnecessary things."
"H-Hey, Yuzuru?!" Lucas called.
Yuzuru looked back with a smile. "Petition. I was not lying. Kaguya likes you very much, Lucas. So please. Take good care of her." She bowed and ran off into the night.
◇
Same day, 3:15 PM.
"That was the same old Tohka, huh?" Shidou muttered to himself back at home, as he recalled the way Tohka had acted, and checked the time on his phone.
After lunch, Shidou and Tohka had walked through the town and gotten a bunch of shopping done, chatting the whole time, but he hadn't been able to pick out anything strange about her.
Of course, just as Reine instructed, he'd asked all sorts of leading questions and quizzed her on things that only Tohka could have known. But she had answered all of them quite easily. When he considered all that, it was hard to believe she could have been Natsumi in disguise.
"So then I guess it's actually someone else, huh?" Shidou said to his earpiece.
"...We can't say anything definitive at this point." Reine's voice came back to him. "In any case, all we can do is have faith that Natsumi's transformation ability has seams we can pull apart and forge ahead with our investigation. It's almost time. You need to start your second date."
"Right." He nodded. "Who's next? Where should I go?"
"...Mm, you can stay right where you are, Shin."
"Huh?"
"...The timing's perfect. She wanted to see you anyway. So I decided you could get two birds with one stone. I think she should be there-"
Bing bong! The doorbell interrupted Reine.
"Hmm? Who's that?" Shidou glanced at the intercom screen, but there was no one on it. Cocking his head, he went out into the hallway and walked toward the front door to open it.
"Yes? Who is-"
"Boo!"
"Gah?!"
The second he turned the doorknob, something flew at him through the crack of an opening, and Shido automatically threw himself backward. The phone in his hand slid out and flew toward the thing that had poked its face into the entryway.
But the thing dodged the phone neatly and crossed tiny arms in indignation.
"Honestly, Shidou! You gotta watch what you're doing!"
When Shidou looked closely, he saw that the thing was a puppet in the shape of a rabbit. Yoshino's friend, Yoshinon. But the puppet had a slightly different look from the Yoshinon that Shidou knew.
There were stitches on its face and massive bolts stuck onto its head. It looked almost like a robot.
"Y-Yoshinon," he said. "That is you, right?"
"Yuuuup. Everyone's superstar, Yoshinon, y'know?" it joked, and Shidou let out a sigh of relief. Although it was looking rather eerie, inside was apparently the same old Yoshinon.
As Shidou scooped his phone from the floor, the door slowly swung inward, and a girl peered in very timidly through the opening. Yoshino. Because Shidou had been surprised and taken his hand off the knob, only Yoshinon on her left hand had made it inside.
"Oh, and Yoshino, too! Sorry. I was just surprised." He pulled the door open all the way and then jumped again.
Like Yoshinon, Yoshino looked different than usual. She wore a pointed black hat with a broad brim and a jet-black robe. She held a small broom in her right hand. Yes. She was dressed like a witch, the very picture of the Natsumi who Shidou and Lucas were currently in search of.
"Y-Yoshino... What...?" he asked.
Yoshinon poked at Yoshino's cheeks as if to encourage her. "Come on, come on, Yooooshino."
"Uh. Uh-huh...!" Yoshino bobbed her head up and down, and then looked at Shidou determinedly. "Tr-trick or treat...!"
"Huh?" For a second, Shidou gaped at her, but then he quickly realized what she meant and slapped a fist into a hand. "Oh, is that it? Is this a Halloween costume?"
It was indeed that time of year. This all made sense to him now.
"So then, Yoshinon, you dressed up, too?"
"Hee-hee-hee! I'm Frankenstein's monster!" Yoshinon threw its arms out, menacingly. That said, well, with its cute eyes and the soft toe beans, it wasn't the least bit intimidating.
"Reine, when you said she wanted to see me?" he asked, in a low voice.
"...Mm-hmm. Yoshino saw people trick-or-treating on TV and said she wanted to try it."
"I get it." Shidou said thoughtfully. Halloween was technically October 31, but to get a taste of the experience, now was just as good as then. Although he was surprised because at a glance this silhouette looked like Natsumi's, but the adorable witch look suited little Yoshino very well.
"Mm." He smiled. "You look cute, Yoshino."
"...!" Yoshino gasped and hung her head, shyly, and Yoshinon jabbed Shidou in the arm.
"Hey, okay! I'm glad you're being nice to Yoshino and all, but aren't you forgetting something?"
"Forgetting?" He frowned. "Oh! The candy? Hang on a minute."
Now that he was thinking about it, he had forgotten a key element. He walked into the kitchen and looked around in the cupboard where they kept the snacks. But in unfortunately poor timing, the cupboard was empty. If he went to Kotori's room, he could probably find a stock of Chupa Chups, but if he touched them, he didn't know what kind of retribution he would face later.
"Aah." Shidou returned to the entryway and bowed apologetically. "Sorry. Looks like we're all out of candy right now."
Yoshino's shoulders slumped, dejectedly. "You...are?"
"I'm really sorry. I'll make sure to have some here next-" Shidou started, but FrankenYoshinon leaned in close.
"Whoopsy? That's gonna be a real problem, my guy. We're not playing games here. Yoshino! Come on! Do it!"
"H...huh?" she said.
"Ugh. It's trick or treat, okay? If we don't get a treat, we play a trick."
"Oh..." Yoshino looked up at Shidou with big, round eyes.
"H-hey?" Shidou raised an eyebrow.
"It's just, if you got no treats, we got no choice, Shidou. I guess you'll have to enjoy this little prank from Yoshino."
"Pr-prank? What are you going to do?" he asked, taking a step back, and a creepy smile rose up on Yoshinon's face.
"Wait and see." The puppet signaled Yoshino with its eyes. Her cheeks flushed, and she averted her eyes.
"No, seriously. What are you planning to do?!" Shidou cried. "Ah! Right. Can you two wait in the living room for a minute?"
"...?"
"Why?" Yoshino and Yoshinon looked at each other curiously. Beckoning them inside, Shidou once again headed for the kitchen.
He pulled the pancake mix out of the cupboard, got some milk and eggs from the fridge, and started measuring things out into a bowl.
"What, what? What are you making, Shidoouu?"
"Wouldn't you like to know? It'll be ready soon, so just wait a minute, okay?" Shidou said, and saw the pair cock their heads, eyes round with surprise.
Smiling, he heated a Teflon pan, melted some butter, poured batter in, and neatly fried it. He placed two pancakes on a white plate, buttered them, and drizzled maple syrup to finish them off.
"Okay. It's ready. Eat up while it's still hot," he said, setting the plate down on the table.
Yoshino gaped in surprise and began to scrutinize the pancakes. "I've...seen this on TV...!" She was about to pick up her fork when her shoulders jumped up and she gasped as if remembering something. "Umm... thank you."
"Sure thing. Enjoy," he told her.
Yoshino cut a bite-sized piece of pancake with Yoshinon's help, stabbed a fork into it, and stared at it hard before popping it into her mouth.
"...!"
Her eyes flew open, and she slapped the table repeatedly before giving Shidou the thumbs-up. He'd seen her do this before. This was how she reacted when emotionally upended by an unknown flavor. It seemed that she approved.
"Ha-ha! Is it good then?" His face relaxed into a smile.
Yoshino bobbed her head up and down.
"...Shin." He heard Reine's voice in his right ear.
"...I hate to interrupt this lovely moment, but what do you think? Anything different about Yoshino?"
"Oh. No. From what I can see, I don't think there's anything out of the ordinary," he said, and cleared his throat to get himself back on track. "That reminds me. We did something like this before, too, right? You know. When you first came to the house, Yoshino. Umm, what did I make that time?"
"Yes... That time, you...made us chicken and egg bowls," Yoshino said, an ecstatic look on her face.
Shidou smiled at her and said to himself, "Bingo."
"Huh? What's that about, Shidou? Yoshinon doesn't know a thing about that," Yoshinon said, unhappily, face covered in stitches.
"Hmm? You don't remember?" he asked.
Yoshinon made a gesture like it was thinking for a second before hitting one hand in its other palm. "Maybe that was when Yoshinon was at Origami's house?"
"Oh. Right. I guess you weren't with Yoshino then."
"I wasn't. Still, giving Yoshino a chicken and egg bowl while Yoshinon's out of the picture's pretty pervy, Shidou! Trying to go up to that adult level while Yoshinon's not looking, hmm? Wait. If Yoshino's the egg, then who's the chicken?"
"Y-Yoshinon!" A tomato-faced Yoshino pressed a hand over Yoshinon's mouth, and the puppet flailed its arms.
"Mmph! Mmph!" It wasn't as though the puppet was equipped with lungs, but Yoshinon struggled like it couldn't breathe.
Shidou felt bad for it somehow and said to Yoshino, "H-hey. Yoshinon's having a rough time over there."
"Oh... I-I'm sorry, Yoshinon...!" She yanked her hand away.
"Koff! Koff! ...Phew. I thought I was a goner there," Yoshinon said, relieved, and then tilted its head curiously.
"Hmm? Is something wrong, Yoshinon?" Shidou asked.
Yoshinon crossed its arms deftly and groaned. "Mm, I forgot. 'Cause of the lack of oxygen from Yoshino pinning me down. Shidou, you better be careful when you have a fight with Yoshino, too."
"Th-that's..." Yoshino flushed red, and then polished off the rest of the pancakes as if to cover up her embarrassment.
After a minute or two, Yoshinon pricked its ears up and whispered something to Yoshino. "...Okay? ...that's why, ...you know."
Yoshino turned her eyes toward Shidou, urged on by Yoshinon, stabbed her fork into the last piece of pancake, and held out her hand in Shidou's direction. "Uh. Umm. I'm sharing."
"Oh. But I actually gave that to you, so...," Shidou said.
"..." Yoshino's eyebrows rose up sadly on her forehead.
When she made that face, he couldn't very well refuse. Shidou held out his hands to indicate his surrender and then chomped down on the proffered pancake, being careful to keep his mouth off the fork.
Watching this, a bold smile spread across Yoshinon's face. "Shidoouu. If Yoshinon's memory is correct, some people eat pancakes as a snack, but there are also people who eat them for breakfast, right?"
"Huh?" he said. "Oh, well, yeah, I guess so."
"Right? So then isn't it not quite right to call this a treat?"
"Wh-whoa, hey." He didn't need to hear that when the treat in question had already been devoured.
"Umm. Shidou." Yoshino timidly pointed at his face. "You have...syrup. On the corner of your mouth."
"Huh? Really?" The piece of pancake must have been a bit larger than bite-sized. Shidou licked his lips.
"It's a little more... This way. Oh. Do you mind?" Yoshino said, standing up, and took one of the wet wipes on the table.
"S-sure." He did feel a bit awkward, but she was going out of her way to do him a favor. His face turned red, but he stopped himself from averting his eyes.
When Yoshino reached toward his face, however, she kept going and brought her own face in close before licking a spot somewhere between his cheek and his lip. "Waah?!" He jumped up and flew backward. That was indeed unexpected. "Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yoshino?!"
"Uh. Umm. Umm. Uh..." For some reason, she was just as flustered as he was. She stammered and flapped her hands. "Th-that was... Umm. Pancakes are kind of. In between dinner and a treat, so... I-I played a trick...!" she cried out and ran out of the house.
Shidou was momentarily stunned, and then he spoke to his earpiece. "R-Reine... That was really Yoshino...right?"
"...Hmm, good question."
The response he got was noncommittal.
◇