"Sigh, come on. I'll take you to her and you two can talk it out. You're both such idiots."
Shichen shook his head, grabbed Kaguya's wrist, and teleported them over to Yuzuru.
Yuzuru wasn't far—just like Kaguya, she was sitting on the beach hugging her knees, staring blankly out at the sea.
"Eh? Kaguya? Shichen? Why did you suddenly show up here?"
"Ask her," Shichen said, pointing at Kaguya and acting like it had nothing to do with him.
He wanted them to talk it through face-to-face. These two needed a real heart-to-heart.
He'd originally planned to give them a surprise tomorrow, but seeing them both like this, he couldn't just leave it.
They were both willing to sacrifice themselves for the other—but there was no way either of them actually wanted to disappear.
It wasn't only about not wanting to die—they were attached to this world, to all the new things they'd just started to see and experience… and most of all, to each other.
Their instincts demanded that they defeat the other and become the single Spirit of Yamai—but their personalities were now fully separate. After spending so much time together every day, how could there not be feelings there?
How could either of them honestly be okay with losing the other?
"Question. Kaguya, what's the meaning of this?" Yuzuru sensed something was off, stood up, and looked at her.
"Yuzuru, what did you tell Shichen? You asked him to choose me? What's that supposed to mean?" Kaguya didn't answer Yuzuru's question. Her voice was calm, but anger seeped through as she demanded an answer.
Her teeth clenched, fists tightened, and in response to her mood, a sharp, cold wind suddenly whipped up around them.
Yuzuru stared back at her fury without flinching. "Sigh. So you found out, huh."
"Yuzuru, Kaguya also told me to choose you," Shichen added, happily fanning the flames.
"Question. Shichen, what did you just say?"
"You heard me," Shichen said, spreading his hands.
"Repeat. Are you saying that's true?" Yuzuru's tone, like Kaguya's, was calm on the surface, but her anger seeped through.
"It's true. If you don't believe me, ask Kaguya."
"Kaguya actually asked you to choose me…" Yuzuru's fist clenched tight, and her usual monotone way of speaking broke.
Around her, the air swirled. A violent wind built up, clashing against the storm Kaguya's power was stirring.
Shichen casually put up a barrier so no one else would notice.
"You've got to be kidding me—!"
After a brief silence, both of them shouted at the exact same time, their voices full of rage, and the pressure of their wind surged.
Storms wrapped around both their bodies, and they stood like wind spirits in the eye of their own tempests, completely unaffected.
Then the wind twisted like it had a will of its own, swirling around them. Light flared around their bodies, and their clothes dissolved into particles of light.
The glow faded again, and their school uniforms had changed into tight, revealing restraint suits. Chains and shackles were clamped symmetrically around their necks, wrists, and ankles.
These were their Astral Dresses as spirits—skimpy, yes, but the most powerful armor they had.
Not only that, they both raised their hands toward each other at the same time.
On Kaguya's right shoulder, a mechanical-looking wing unfolded, and armor extended down her right arm, gleaming like polished metal. In her hand formed a massive spear far larger than her entire body.
"Knight of the Gale—El Re'em!" Kaguya shouted, naming her weapon.
At the same time, the same mechanical wing appeared on Yuzuru's left shoulder, armor wrapping her left arm. A different weapon appeared in her hand—its end a diamond-shaped blade attached to a chain, looking like a pendulum-type weapon.
"Resonance. Knight of the Gale—El Na'ash," Yuzuru called calmly, naming hers.
Wind wrapped around them and jammed against each other. The two faced off: Kaguya's spear leveled straight at Yuzuru, and Yuzuru's chain-blade floated in the air, its tip aimed right at Kaguya.
Everything about their stance said: one wrong move and they'd clash.
Kaguya glared at Yuzuru, furious. "What kind of joke is this, Yuzuru? You told Shichen to pick me?!"
"Objection. I should be asking you what you're thinking. Yuzuru does not recall ever asking Kaguya to do such a thing," Yuzuru shot back, just as angry.
"As I thought, this was never going to work… I thought we'd found a peaceful way to settle this, but I forgot to account for your stupidity."
"Agree. Yuzuru has already lost patience with Kaguya's stupidity... In the end, it comes to this after all, doesn't it? Trying to dump the burden of our conflict onto someone else—how selfish can we be?"
"Exactly. Looks like we still have to settle things with our own hands… and I've never been this mad in my life!"
"Ready to fight. Yuzuru is also extremely angry at Kaguya's half-baked thinking."
"So, the way we settle this is decided?"
"Of course. Yuzuru understands perfectly."
Both tightened their grip on their weapons and in perfect sync declared, "The first one to fall—wins."
Not the last one standing—the first to fall. Even now, the two of them were still thinking of each other, even if it meant fighting to mutual destruction.
"Stop, I didn't come here to watch you two try to kill each other…"
Shichen finally cut in, but they didn't listen. With a violent crash of wind pressure between them, they sprang toward each other.
"I said… stop."
Buzz—
The wind suddenly vanished.
Kaguya and Yuzuru froze mid-charge, stopping about a meter apart.
Between them, Shichen stood with his arms extended, one hand gripping Kaguya's spear, the other holding Yuzuru's chain-blade, completely unharmed.
"Shichen, you—get out of the way!"
"Agree! Shichen, move aside," Yuzuru said.
"As long as I'm here, you two aren't fighting. If you've got something to say, say it with your mouths, not your weapons," Shichen said, exasperated, looking back and forth between them.
"Talk? I've had it with Yuzuru's stupidity!"
"Counter. Yuzuru is the one who can't stand Kaguya's stupidity!"
"I'm stupid? You're just too soft-hearted! I was being nice—giving you the seat as main personality, all you had to do was accept it!"
"Refusal. From the beginning, Yuzuru never intended to become the main personality."
"What? Do you have any idea how hard I worked to lose all those matches to you without making it obvious?"
"Counter. Yuzuru is the one who kept trying to lose. But every time Yuzuru held back, Kaguya just refused to attack. That kind of frustration has happened far too many times."
"The Spirit of Yamai is the mistress of hurricanes, able to cut the world in half! The one who suits that title best is you!"
"Deny. No. Kaguya is the one truly worthy of bearing the name Yamai."
"Tch! You're faster than me in the air!"
"And Kaguya's raw power is greater."
"Your figure is way better than mine!"
"But your skin is prettier."
"You're cuter than me!"
"Objection. Yuzuru will never back down on that one. Compared to Yuzuru, Kaguya is definitely cuter."
"You two…" Shichen almost laughed from sheer helplessness.
They sounded like they were fighting, but to anyone who didn't know better, it'd just sound like a mutual praise fest.
"You both obviously like each other, so why are you doing this?"
"Like? Not at all!" Kaguya glanced at Yuzuru, then quickly turned her head away, embarrassed.
"Deny. Yuzuru does not like Kaguya either," Yuzuru said.
"Now's really not the time to be tsundere, you know."
"Shichen, move! I need to beat some sense into Yuzuru!"
"Counter! It's Yuzuru who needs to knock some sense into Kaguya!"
"Can you both calm down for one second? Do you remember our deal?"
"Our… deal?" They both looked back at him.
"That's right. The deal. Yuzuru begged me to choose Kaguya. Kaguya begged me to choose Yuzuru. I'm the judge here. I'm the only one who should be deciding who wins."
"So? Who did you pick?"
"Question. Who do you choose?" Yuzuru echoed.
"Simple. I'm keeping my promise to both of you. I'm choosing you both!" Shichen answered loudly.
"...What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Agree. Shichen, don't stir things up," Yuzuru frowned.
"Who says it's nonsense?" Shichen cut Yuzuru off.
"Did it really never occur to either of you that you could both stay in this world?"
"Both…?" They instinctively looked at each other.
"There's no way that's possible…"
"It is possible. As long as I'm here, I can make sure you both live in this world without being forced to fight to the death. You can live however you want."
"That can't be…" Both of them whispered, unable to believe it.
"Why not? All you have to do is trust me. Don't you want to live together? Go to school together, come home together, eat sweets, fall in love, enjoy the life you should have?"
"That kind of life… can we really have that?" Their resolve wavered.
"You can. As long as you believe in me," Shichen said softly, smiling.
~~~
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