"By the way, Tsukiyo-chan. I've always wanted to ask you a question. What's with the ring on your hand?"
It was fine when she usually wore her miko outfit with exposed armpits, but wearing a ring while in a swimsuit made Nia too curious.
Especially since this ring was on her left ring finger. Girls wearing a ring there signified a married woman, and Nia didn't believe Inaba Tsukiyo didn't know this.
Nia's question made Yoshino and Kurumi, who were talking, turn around and look at Inaba Tsukiyo curiously.
Kurumi had fully integrated into society, so she understood the meaning of the ring. Yoshino knew what the ring meant from the TV dramas and games she watched.
However, in Yoshino's memory, Inaba Tsukiyo had always stayed with her. Even if she occasionally left for a while, it was impossible for her to be dating a girl.
So, what was with the ring on Inaba Tsukiyo's hand? They were just too curious.
"…You're not the first person to ask that question, Nia. I really don't know why you're all so concerned about this ring."
Touching the ring on her ring finger, Inaba Tsukiyo shook her head helplessly. She felt that every time she went to another world, someone would ask her about the ring.
"Everyone isn't stupid. The ring is already on such an obvious position, don't you know what it means?"
A very simple sentence made Yoshino, Kurumi, and Nia's expressions completely freeze.
It was an answer they absolutely did not want to hear, and one they thought was the most impossible.
It wasn't a 'Lord of the Rings' (wedding ring) from a game; if Inaba Tsukiyo wasn't lying, this was a genuine wedding ring!
Another implication was that Inaba Tsukiyo was married! She got married to someone without their knowledge!
[Bang!]
Kurumi and Nia slammed the table and stood up, looking at the ring with disbelief and anger.
Originally, they had only asked about the ring's origin out of curiosity, never expecting such an answer. Was this lifting a rock only to drop it on their own feet?
"Hey, Yoshino. Are you okay? Hey, snap out of it."
Yoshinon looked at Yoshino worriedly. Ever since Inaba Tsukiyo explicitly stated that the ring on her hand was a wedding ring, Yoshino had frozen, like a statue, not responding no matter how Yoshinon called her.
"Hehe~ A bunch of ignorant fools, still thinking of snatching my position as the main wife. Don't even dream of it."
Victorica, who had been angry about Inaba Tsukiyo's recent behavior, nodded with satisfaction after hearing Inaba Tsukiyo's words, giving a provocative look at those who considered themselves closest to Inaba Tsukiyo.
'She's surprisingly satisfied about something strange. Is a wedding ring that important to her?'
Herrscher Tsukiyo bit into a cookie, chewing it while watching Inaba Tsukiyo on the TV.
She ignored Kurumi and Nia's gazes, just gently caressing the ring on her ring finger, as if it were a precious treasure.
It was a gentle smile that Yoshino and the others had never seen, not the kind of friendly fake smile for outsiders, but a truly heartfelt smile.
'Is this ring really that important?'
This thought passed through everyone's minds. For Inaba Tsukiyo to show such an expression, the meaning represented by this ring was self-evident.
However, something here didn't add up. According to Yoshino, Inaba Tsukiyo appeared with her arrival; she should be an existence like a Twin Spirit.
But this ring shouldn't belong to Inaba Tsukiyo. If she really was a Twin Spirit, then Inaba Tsukiyo definitely wouldn't have time to interact with others, let alone spend time cultivating feelings with someone else.
Given Inaba Tsukiyo's personality, it would probably take several years for a relationship with her to reach the point of willingly marrying the other person.
Inaba Tsukiyo certainly didn't have several years to develop a relationship with someone, but if Inaba Tsukiyo wasn't lying, it meant she was hiding many things.
Because of this little interlude, everyone's subsequent play was not as enjoyable, constantly thinking about the ring.
Suddenly, without any warning, a large number of explosions erupted in the swimming pool. Countless small missiles continuously bombarded the ground, causing massive explosions.
The sound of the explosion attracted the attention of Inaba Tsukiyo and the others. Upon closer inspection, they realized that Origami was piloting a completely different visualization device than usual and was fighting Kotori.
Due to her physical condition, Kotori couldn't fight for too long, but dealing with Origami was still not a problem for her.
However, as the fight continued, Kotori's body was clearly about to give out, swaying constantly in the air.
Shiori could only watch as Kotori and Origami continuously clashed. If this continued, either Kotori would collapse first, or Origami would fall due to her body giving out.
Finally, under Origami's furious roar, Kotori was shot down by Origami because her body could no longer withstand the strain.
What made Kotori lose her will to resist were Origami's final words. The great fire in Amamiya City five years ago had always been an indelible pain in Kotori's heart.
Now that Origami brought it up, and Origami was also a victim of that fire, Kotori was at a loss for how to face it. She could only watch as Origami aimed her cannon at her.
"Don't!"
Seeing such a scene, Shiori unhesitatingly blocked in front of Kotori. Even though she no longer had Kotori's recovery ability, she didn't hesitate for a moment to use her delicate body to shield Kotori.
To protect the most important thing to her, even if it meant sacrificing her own life, Shiori stood in front of Origami without any hesitation.
Regarding the great fire in Amamiya City five years ago, Shiori was actually a bit unclear about it. Even though Kannazuki Kyohei had previously provided her with information about Kotori in her Yama state and that mysterious phantom, she couldn't think of anything else.
"Don't! Origami! There are still many things about that incident that haven't been investigated clearly! Kotori is definitely not the murderer who harmed your parents!"
Although she said this, Origami's mind was completely enveloped by the scene from back then: her young self facing an endless inferno, and the Spirit in the sky attacking her parents.
The current Origami would no longer believe Shiori's words as she usually would, but she also didn't fire, because Shiori was blocking in front of Kotori. If she fired, it would definitely harm Shiori.
"Get out of the way! Itsuka Shiori! I don't want to kill you too!"
There was no emotion in Origami's eyes. She had come here to deal with Kotori in this forbidden armor without the AST members noticing.
Now was the best chance to kill Kotori. Origami didn't think she would ever get another chance to see Kotori in such a weakened state.
However, how could Shiori watch Origami harm her younger sister? Even if it cost her own life, Shiori didn't want to see Kotori die.
Origami, who could already feel waves of pain in her body, knew she couldn't hold on for much longer. Under Shiori's horrified gaze, she launched a bombardment.
The scorching fire continuously approached Shiori. She no longer had a chance to dodge, and she couldn't dodge.
If she dodged, then the one hit would be the currently incapacitated Kotori.
At this moment, she had lost Kotori's recovery ability. If she was hit by Origami's attack, then she would be finished.
Shiori, with her eyes closed, did not experience the impact she expected. Slowly opening her eyes, Shiori found that a machine had appeared in front of her at some point.
This machine, floating in the air, blocked in front of Shiori, taking Origami's attack for her.
After this floating machine blocked Origami's attack, a blue light representing quantum appeared, and two titan armors, one long-range and one close-range, appeared in front of Shiori.
"It's the mechs from back then…"
These mechs were the ones that suddenly appeared to help them fight the AST when Tohka first appeared. She didn't expect them to appear to help them this time.
The close-range titan gave Shiori a thumbs-up, then charged towards Origami. It was buying Shiori time to seal Kotori.
Facing the charging titan dad, Origami remembered the fear of being pinned down and crushed by the titan dad back then.
Without hesitation, she used the visualization device on her body to fly into the air, wanting to use her aerial advantage to attack Kotori.
But the long-range titan was clearly designed to prevent such a situation. The moment Origami flew into the air, it launched all its ballistic attacks at Origami, giving her no time to attack Kotori.
Shiori should have properly sealed Kotori at this time, but even if she sealed Kotori, if Origami wanted to cause trouble, she would still have no way to deal with Origami.
Unable to do anything, Shiori could only carry Kotori, who had fallen unconscious from exhaustion, to find Inaba Tsukiyo and the others.
She had watched the battle between Inaba Tsukiyo and Kurumi's Original Body from the sidelines last time. Even if Inaba Tsukiyo didn't transform into the legendary Medusa, Shiori believed that Inaba Tsukiyo definitely had the ability to break this stalemate.
"It seems you've gotten into trouble, Shiori."
Inaba Tsukiyo, dressed in her original miko outfit, came before Shiori and said with a smile.
"Tsukiyo-chan… I beg you… please help me, save Kotori."
Her eyes were filled with a look of longing. At this moment, only Inaba Tsukiyo could help them.
Shiori's reaction made Inaba Tsukiyo nod in satisfaction. She clearly felt Shiori's concern for Kotori.
Nia, Yoshino, and Kurumi also had a considerable change of opinion about Shiori. At least, when Shiori disregarded the danger to her life and stood in front of Kotori, Shiori had already passed the test.
Inaba Tsukiyo glanced at Kurumi, who nodded. Changing into her Astral Dress, she took out her Angel, aimed its barrel at the unconscious Kotori, and used Fourth Bullet.
Fourth Bullet could restore Kotori's body to safety, but to fully restore Kotori, Shiori had to seal Kotori's Spirit Power.
"Now it's your turn, Shiori. We won't be third wheels anymore. It's your turn now."
Kotori was clearly awake, but was still feigning sleep out of tsundere concern.
Nia, behind Inaba Tsukiyo, looked at Shiori teasingly, making a 'kiss' gesture, indicating to kiss Kotori to seal Kotori's power.
Helplessly watching Inaba Tsukiyo and the others leave, Shiori looked at Kotori in her arms, leaned down, and approached Kotori's cherry lips.
[Click!]
"That's… a good photo I got."
When writing about kissing, I remembered an interview from a TV drama I watched before.
It seemed that during a kissing scene, someone on the side was making sarcastic remarks.
Something like, 'Hurry up, hurry up and use more force, use more force, stick out your tongue.'
I forgot which TV drama interview it was, but it felt like a campus youth idol drama.
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