I had a... problem.
More specifically, this "problem"was walking beside me.
And also claimed to be... My sister.
Takamiya Mana which I learned was her name, blue hair swaying. stayed tight at my right shoulder like she was afraid that if she let me get more than a few steps away, I would vanish into the air.
Tohka was on my left, close enough that our sleeves brushed every few seconds because apparently she still treated personal space like a rumor instead of a rule. Above us, the evening sky had gone orange and red, power lines cutting across the sunset.
The reason Mana was even here was simple. She had gotten too emotional to leave behind.
When she had grabbed onto me in the street and called me Nii-sama with wet eyes and a voice that shook in the middle, peeling her off and walking away would have felt rotten. She had looked like she might start crying more if I said one wrong word. So I brought her with me. That was the whole story.
And now I was paying for that loan of decency with interest.
It didn't help that I was already carrying leftover static from earlier.
Kurumi had taken more out of me than I wanted to admit. I wasn't stumbling around half-dead. I just felt worn in that irritating, invisible way where everything sounded a little louder and everything people said took a little more energy to answer. Her smile, her voice, the way every instinct I had kept refusing to fully relax around her even when I acted bored on the outside—none of that had gone away. So no, I wasn't in the mood for extra problems.
Naturally, that was when Mana opened her mouth.
"Nii-sama.." she said, trying very hard to sound composed and only getting halfway there, "I think I deserve an explanation."
I kept my hands in my pockets and glanced at her.
"An explanation..?." I raised my brow
She gave me a suspicious look.
"I was told," she said, "that Tobiichi-san is your girlfriend."
I blinked once.
Then I looked forward again.
Of course.
Origami.
There were very few people in the world who could quietly put a live grenade into someone else's life and then stand nearby with such a blank face that it looked like they had never touched it. Origami was one of them. Possibly the best one.
"To be clear," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "Tobiichi told you that herself, didn't she?"
"She did."
"Yeah," I muttered. "That definitely sounds like her."
Tohka, who had been listening with the full, earnest seriousness of someone trying to understand a lesson she would later be tested on, tilted her head.
"What is a girlfriend?" She asked innocently.
Mana's expression twitched.
For a second, she looked like she regretted every decision that had led her here.
Then she apparently decided definitions could wait until after the damage.
"Apologies but I must ask directly!" she said, turning to Tohka. "Have you gone on a date with Nii-sama before..?"
Tohka's face lit up.
"Yes! I love dates!"
Mana stopped walking.
I took one more step before I realized the whole street had become a courtroom and I was somehow both the defendant and the evidence. Then I stopped too and looked up at the sky for a second, mostly because it was less stressful than looking at either of them.
"Context..." I said. "That answer needs context..."
Nobody cared.
Mana had already gone a little pale.
"Then..." she said carefully, like every word had to cross broken glass to get out, "have you two ever... kissed?"
Tohka blinked.
"Kissed...?"
For one beautiful second, I thought maybe the word wouldn't register and the universe would accidentally do me a favor.
Then her eyes brightened again.
"Oh!" she said happily. "Yes! We do that a lot!"
Mana made a tiny strangled sound.
I closed my eyes.
Perfect.
Absolutely flawless.
Language remained one of humanity's cruelest inventions.
"I really feel," I said, opening my eyes again, "that everything sounds worse when people say it out loud."
Mana slowly turned toward me, and I could practically hear her faith in civilization cracking.
All I could muster was a lazy shrug.
"It's fine" I said. "We only eat together..."
Tohka nodded cheerfully.
"And go to school together..."
Another nod.
"And go back from school together. And live together. And sometimes sleep together, and sometimes kiss—"
"Stop! Stop!" Mana squeaked, both hands flying up. "I heard enough!"
Tohka puffed her cheeks and glared at her.
I looked at Mana for a second and sighed through my nose.
"See, it's not so bad right?" I ask
Mana did not think so.
"Y-You two-timing pervert!" Mana cried, pointing at me like she had just uncovered corruption in government. "Bad big brother!"
That got an immediate reaction out of Tohka. She clutched my sleeve harder and glared right back.
"Shidou is not a pervert," she declared. "He is Shidou."
I glanced at her.
"That defense is a lot weaker than you think it is."
She blinked at me.
Mana, meanwhile, looked like she couldn't decide whether she wanted to keep yelling, burst into tears, or drag me to some higher court where all of this could be retried under stricter conditions.
"Nii-sama," she said, scandalized all over again, "how can you stay so calm about this!?"
"Practice I guess..?"
That wasn't really true.
It was easier to act like this. Easier to keep my shoulders loose, my eyelids half-lowered, and my answers dry. The less I let show, the less likely people were to start trying to pry under it. That was useful.
Especially today.
Ahead of us, the house finally came into view.
Tohka brightened instantly.
"Shidou! Dinner!"
"Yeah, yeah." I rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Go back to your room next door first please."
She blinked.
"Nu?"
"I've got to talk to this mystery little sister of mine for a bit."
Mana puffed her cheeks immediately.
"I am not a mystery."
"You are at least three mysteries standing very close together."
"That is rude.." She huffed.
"It's true."
Tohka still looked unconvinced.
"But dinner.." she said again, as if making a final appeal to the court.
I gave her a tired half-smile.
"I'll make steak."
That got her full attention.
"With egg?"
"Yeah. With egg."
Her whole face lit up.
"Umu! Okay!" She said enthusiastically.
Then, because she was still Tohka, she leaned in close and whispered with grave seriousness, "Do not get stolen."
That almost got a laugh out of me.
"I'll do my best."
That seemed to satisfy her. She nodded solemnly and headed toward her own room next door, glancing back once over her shoulder at Mana with obvious suspicion, like she was leaving me alone with a creature she didn't fully trust around food.
The moment Tohka disappeared, the air changed.
Not better.
Just quieter.
Mana watched the direction Tohka had gone for another second before looking back at me.
"...You really are close with her."
"Yeah," I said. "I am."
Something shifted in her expression.
Not anger.
Not embarrassment.
Something more uncertain than either.
Like the answer had landed somewhere she hadn't expected.
Then she looked away first.
I unlocked the front door and stepped inside.
"I'm home...." I keep my voice loud enough to call Kotori.
And as always I hear..
"Welcome back."
Kotori's voice floated in from the living room.
I took off my shoes and led Mana inside. A moment later Kotori stepped into view in casual clothes, black ribbons in her hair, lollipop in her mouth, and an expression that said her evening had just been rerouted against its will.
Her eyes landed on Mana.
Then she tilted her head.
"Ara?" she said. "Who's this?"
Mana straightened immediately.
"My name is Takamiya Mana," she said. "I am Nii-sama's sister."
Kotori blinked once.
Then very slowly turned her head toward me.
I could practically hear the messy situation waking up and stretching.
"She says," I replied, "that she's my sister."
Kotori took the lollipop out of her mouth.
"She says?"
I gave her a flat look.
"If I had a cleaner answer than that, do you really think I'd be standing here like this?"
Kotori narrowed her eyes just a little.
Then she looked back at Mana.
"Well," she said, stepping aside, "come in and explain how exactly my brother picked up a sister on the road home."
Tea came out after that.
Snacks, too.
And somehow I ended up sitting in the middle of the sofa like the centerpiece of a dispute no one sane should have wanted.
Kotori sat opposite Mana with one leg crossed over the other, looking relaxed in the way she only ever looked when she was paying far too much attention to everything. Mana sat straight-backed, hands folded for about five seconds before tension broke the pose and made her uncurl them again. I leaned back where I was and tried to look like none of this was really a problem.
Which, to be fair, was still easier than admitting it absolutely was.
Kotori started.
"You said you're Shidou's sister," she said. "Based on what?"
Mana answered without hesitation.
"Because I am."
"Strong evidence," I murmured.
Mana turned to me with a small frown.
"Nii-sama, why do you keep acting like this is a joke?"
I sigh.
"Because..... it's just a lot alright?" I said honestly.
Mana frowns and gives me a sad look.
Then Mana reached up and touched the silver amulet hanging at her chest.
"I do not remember everything," she said, quieter now. "But I know enough. Nii-sama is Nii-sama. I swear I'm not lying"
Kotori's eyes narrowed.
"You don't remember much?"
Mana shook her head.
"The last two or three years are mostly clear. Before that..." She looked frustrated with herself. "A lot of it is blurry."
That made Kotori go still for a moment.
I knew what she was thinking.
I hadn't been born into the Itsuka family. I had been taken in.
So the possibility that I had blood relatives somewhere out there wasn't impossible.
Just inconvenient.
And inconvenient things had a terrible habit of finding me.
Mana unclasped the amulet and opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
A little girl.
A little boy.
Blue hair.
Small, bright smiles.
Even from where I sat, I could see why she was so certain. The boy looked enough like me to make something in my stomach tighten.
Kotori leaned forward.
"...It does look like him," she admitted.
Mana nodded at once.
"Because it is him."
Kotori's gaze narrowed.
"Looking like him and being him are two different things."
"There is no mistake."
"That level of certainty is suspicious."
"It is not suspicious," Mana said immediately. "It is the bond between siblings."
I rubbed at my cheek.
The photograph bothered me.
Not because it proved anything cleanly.
It bothered me because I couldn't look at it without feeling like something inside me shifted a little.
Mana closed the amulet again, though not all the way.
Kotori leaned back.
"Well," she said, "even if the possibility exists, Shidou is already part of this family."
Mana's face changed.
And for the first time since she came in, the change wasn't defensive.
It softened.
She actually smiled.
A small one. Real enough to surprise both me and Kotori.
"I'm happy for that," she said.
Kotori blinked.
I did too.
Mana looked at Kotori properly.
"I mean it," she said. "If Nii-sama was taken in and loved here, then I'm grateful..."
For one brief second, the room quieted.
That answer was not what either of us had expected.
Then Mana smiled again gently.
"But... nothing can replace the blood sister."
And there it was.
Kotori's eyebrow twitched.
The annoyance came back immediately.
"Oh? Is that how we're defining things?"
"It is simply the truth."
"Time matters too..."
"Blood matters more."
"He's lived here for years!"
"And I share blood with him!"
And just like that, the sister war began properly.
It escalated fast.
Blood ties versus time spent together.
Real sister versus foster sister.
Which bond mattered more.
Who had more rights to me.
Who understood me better.
Who had more sister points.
Yes... they both actually said sister points out loud, and the worst part was that nobody laughed.
Mana insisted blood couldn't be replaced.
Kotori countered that actual years spent beside me weren't some meaningless substitute.
Mana said time didn't erase origin.
Kotori said origin didn't automatically outrank everything else.
The whole thing was ridiculous.
And somehow, both of them meant every word.
At one point Kotori, snapped. "Yeah, but blood sisters can't marry anyway!"
Silence.
Mana blinked.
I blinked.
Kotori blinked too.
Then she waved one hand quickly, cheeks flushing.
"That wasn't the point," she said at once. "Forget
it."
I stared at her.
Mana stared at her too.
For once neither of us had anything to say.
Kotori coughed into her fist and tried to reclaim some dignity.
"The point," she said stiffly, "is that years of actually being his sister count for something."
Mana recovered enough to glare right back.
"And blood still counts for more."
All the while, though, my eyes kept drifting back to the amulet.
The faded photograph.
The blue hair.
The smiles.
The longer the argument went on, the worse that strange pressure in my chest got.
Like I should know that picture.
Like I had known it once and then forgotten too hard.
Eventually, they turned on me together.
"Nii-sama," Mana demanded, leaning forward, "which faction are you choosing?"
"Yeah," Kotori said. "Answer properly, Adopted or Blood sister?"
I looked from one to the other.
Then held up one hand lazily.
"Pause," I said, before the house dissolved any further, "can I see the amulet again?"
Mana blinked.
"The amulet?"
"Yeah. Up close this time."
They both frowned annoyed at my redirection.
"Well... I suppose.." Mana says.
She hesitated only a second before placing it in my hand.
The moment it touched my palm, the room changed.
I looked down.
At the little girl.
At the little boy.
At the blue in their hair and the life in their faces.
Something in my chest tightened painfully.
Why did this feel so familiar?
Why did it feel like I had once belonged to this picture?
My fingers curled around the frame.
The room thinned around the edges.
Or drifted away.
Then everything tipped.
______
Warm light.
That was the first thing.
A warm living room washed in late-afternoon sunlight, gold spilling over the floor and sofa and pale dust drifting through the air. The kind of room where silence felt lived in. The kind of room where every object seemed to know where it belonged.
I was sitting on a sofa. With a TV on in front of me airing Old Gen Anime's.
I look to the left and.. Beside me was a white-haired girl.
And She was... beautiful.
Not in the sharp, dangerous way Kurumi was beautiful. Not in the way that made alarms go off under my skin.
This was different.
Softer.
Brighter.
And incredibly familiar.
She reminded me of...
Tohka...
Not in face.
In warmth.
In the way her presence made the room feel lighter just by being in it.
I didn't know her name.
No—that wasn't right.
I almost knew it.
It sat on the tip of my tongue like a word I had once used every day.
Almost..
Then someone came in.
Mana.
Full of restless energy. With an annoyed frown.
She immediately started complaining to the white-haired girl about clothes left around the room. The white-haired girl protested back, half-pouting and half-laughing. Mana huffed. The white-haired girl teased her harder. I watched them and felt something rise in me so quickly it almost hurt.
Warmth.
Protectiveness.
Belonging.
The feeling was so complete it frightened me.
This felt right.
That was what made it terrible.
The white-haired girl noticed me staring and smiled, then leaned over and lightly shook my shoulder, teasing me out of whatever thought had caught me.
That smile eased me instantly.
And somehow, at exactly the same time, sadness started creeping in around the edges of everything.
Why was I sad?
Why did this room already feel like something I had lost?
The white-haired girl laughed again, and the sound wrapped around the room like comfort itself. I could smell sun-warmed cloth, faint sweetness drifting from deeper in the house, the ordinary scent of a home that had never imagined it could become a grave.
Everything about it should have been too normal to matter.
Instead it felt sacred.
Fragile.
The doorbell rang.
One ordinary sound.
That was all.
I decided to answer it.
I stood and started down the hall.
As I went through the hall my nerves slowly started to grow.
And soon every nerve in my body screamed the further I went.
By the time I reached the entrance, I had gone cold.
Don't open it.
The thought didn't even feel like thought. It felt older than that. Something my whole body knew before my mind caught up.
The front door sat there, plain and still.
Wrong.
Completely wrong.
My hands twitched.
For one disorienting second, my mind lunged toward power that wasn't there. Something huge. Something powerful. An answer made of force and blue death. Every thought in my mind tried to make the gaster blasters come.
They wouldn't.
Nothing came.
Absolutely Nothing.
I was weak.
Defenseless.
My throat went dry.
Slowly, carefully, I stepped back from the door.
Then turned and hurried back to the living room.
Mana and the white-haired girl both looked up when I entered.
They saw my face and tensed immediately.
We need to leave, I thought.
Not here.
Anywhere but here.
I opened my mouth to warn them—
—and felt cold metal press into the middle of my back.
A..... a gun barrel..?
Mana's eyes widened.
The white-haired girl's whole face shattered.
A soft voice came at my ear, almost warm.
"You chose this path... friend."
Revulsion hit me before fear did.
Then the shot.
Pain tore through me.
My knees failed.
I hit the floor hard.
Mana screamed.
The white-haired girl screamed too, and when I managed to turn my head enough to see her, the look on her face hurt worse than the bullet.
She looked like her whole world had just ended.
Then the man behind me spoke again.
"...Farewell, Shinji-kun."
The name barely had time to register.
What came after did.
"You really were a good friend..."
Friend....?
"Sh-"
That word split something open inside me.
Hatred came up black and absolute, flooding over everything else.
Friend....
"Shi-"
I hated him.
Hated him.....
Hated...Hated....Hated...Hated.....
Hated-Hated-Hated-Hated-Hated-Hated-Hated
Hated HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED
"Shid-"
HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED—
"Shidou!"
___
The voice tore through everything.
The room shattered.
I snapped back into the present.
Kotori and Mana were both leaning too close.
The amulet was still in my hand.
No—crushing in my hand.
The crack came a second late.
I looked down.
The glass over the photograph had splintered.
My fingers were shaking.
Something wet slid down my cheek.
Tears.
"...Sorry," I heard myself say, my voice rough even to me.
I carefully opened my hand and gave the amulet back to Mana.
She looked shaken in a way she hadn't looked even once since entering my life.
"Nii-sama..."
Kotori had already taken the lollipop fully out of her mouth. She looked worried.
Actually worried.
"Shidou," she said quietly, "what happened?"
I wiped at my face and looked away.
"I.. I don't know."
That was all I gave them.
No details.
No explanation.
Nothing about the room, the feeling, or the rest of it.
If I didn't understand what I had just seen, I wasn't about to start laying it out for an audience.
Mana's eyes wavered.
"This is my fault," she said immediately. "I should not have shown you that. I should not have brought it out."
"No," Kotori said quickly, almost too quickly. "Don't say it like that."
Mana blinked at her.
Kotori looked at me again, then at the cracked amulet, and the worry in her face deepened.
"This didn't happen because of one thing," she said. "We both pushed too hard."
Mana looked stricken.
For a second it looked like the sister war might try to rise again from sheer momentum.
Instead, both of them looked back at me at the same time, and whatever fight remained in either of them simply vanished.
Kotori shifted closer first.
"Hey," she said softly. "Take a breath."
Mana nodded at once, still clutching the cracked amulet.
"Yes. Please. Nii-sama, take your time."
The worry in both their voices felt too real to dodge with a joke.
So I didn't try.
I leaned back into the sofa and did what Kotori said.
Breathed.
Once.
Then again.
Little by little, the shaking in my hands eased.
Not fully.
But enough.
When I opened my eyes again, both of them were still watching me.
Kotori's concern was only half-hidden now.
Mana's wasn't hidden at all.
Kotori spoke first.
"...Do you remember something?"
"Maybe."
Mana swallowed.
"Was it... about me?"
I looked at her.
Then away.
"Just something weird," I said quietly. "I can't explain it."
That was all they got.
Then I moved on before either of them could push harder.
"If you really know something," I said, "then answer me honestly. Where are you living now?"
Mana blinked.
"That is..."
"You said earlier you stay somewhere with living quarters."
She looked down.
"It's... complicated."
Kotori folded her arms, but even then the edge in her voice only came back halfway.
"Oh That's convenient."
"It's not convenient!" Mana protested, already flustered and visibly miserable. "It really is difficult to explain..."
I leaned forward.
"What about our mother?"
Mana froze.
"The one who abandoned me," I said. "Do you remember anything?"
Her expression wavered.
"I... don't know. Or maybe I should say I can't remember."
Kotori's eyes sharpened again.
I looked at Mana for another second.
Then said the thing that had been sitting at the back of my mind since she sat down.
"Then stay."
Mana blinked.
"What?"
"Stay the night," I said. "If you really know anything, then stay here tonight and tell me everything you know."
For one second, I thought she might actually do it.
Then panic won.
"I-I can't!" she blurted. "Not tonight! There's something I have to—I mean, somewhere I have to be, and—"
"That excuse was terrible." Kotori chimed in.
Mana looked like she knew it too.
But she was already backing toward the entrance.
"Nii-sama, I'll explain later! Next time! I promise!"
She bowed abruptly.
"I'm sorry," she said again.
And then she ran.
Actually ran.
By the time I reached the entrance, the front door was already swinging shut behind her.
I stood there for a second, listening to the quiet she left behind.
Then let my forehead rest lightly against the frame.
"Wow," I muttered. "That excuse had impressive speed."
Behind me, Kotori exhaled softly.
When I turned, she was still watching me.
Still worried.
And not hiding it nearly as well as she thought she was.
__
The next morning felt wrong from the start.
Not dramatic-wrong.
Just tilted.
Like the whole day had been nudged a little off-center before I even woke up.
I sat in class with one elbow on the desk and my cheek propped on my palm, only half-listening to the noise around me because the amulet was still sitting in my head.
The room.
The gun.
The voice.
None of it had gone away.
Kurumi's seat was empty.
Tohka noticed first.
"Muu," she muttered. "That Kurumi is late."
"She won't come."
Origami said it so flatly that I turned to look at her at once.
Her face was calm.
Too calm.
I blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"It means exactly that."
Before either of us could ask more, the classroom door opened and Tama-chan-sensei came in with the attendance book.
Homeroom started.
Then roll call.
My name, Origami's... Then
"Tokisaki-san?" Tama-Chan-sensei echoes.
No answer.
Tama-chan puffed her cheeks.
"Really now, if Tokisaki-san was going to be absent, she should have—"
"Here.."
The voice came from the back.
The whole class turned.
Kurumi stood in the open doorway with one hand lightly raised and that same polite smile in place.
Tama-chan-sensei jumped.
"Really now, Tokisaki-san! You're late!"
Kurumi bowed.
"I'm very sorry. I wasn't feeling well on the way here."
"Eh? Are you alright? Do you need the infirmary?"
"No, I'm fine now. I made you worry." She apologized with a sweet smile.
She walked to her seat calmly.
I didn't look at Origami right away.
I didn't need to.
The tension coming off her was enough.
When homeroom ended, my phone rang.
Kotori.
I answered immediately and lowered my voice.
"What happened?"
"A terrible situation," she said. "Come to the physics lab during lunch break. I have something to show you."
"What kind of something?"
"The kind you need to see."
Before I could say more, I felt someone near my shoulder.
Kurumi.
She smiled lightly.
"You looked very serious just now, Shidou-san~"
I slipped the phone away.
"Bad habit."
She tilted her head, curious.
I didn't give her anything else.
By the time lunch break began, Tohka had already shifted her desk closer and opened her bento with obvious expectation.
"Shidou! Lunch!"
I looked at her.
Then at the clock.
Then back at her.
Sigh..
"Sorry, Tohka," I said. "I need to go out for a little bit."
Her face fell at once.
"Nu? Where?"
"I can't explain."
"But I want to go too."
Normally I would have let her follow.
But Ratatoskr and surprises did not mix well.
So I shook my head.
"Not this time."
The hurt in her face landed harder than I wanted it to.
And because I could already tell she'd been hanging onto me more tightly than usual.
I bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Her whole face went bright red.
"I'll come back soon," I said quietly. "Wait for me a little, okay?"
Tohka stared at me like I had just cast some kind of impossible spell.
Then she nodded very quickly.
"O-okay."
She was still sad.
Still clearly reluctant.
But not left without nothing.
That was enough for me to leave.
__
I waited until Itsuka left the classroom.
Only then did I stand.
I had already decided what I was going to do.
Yesterday, I saw Tokisaki Kurumi die.
That was a fact...
Today, she walked into class late and apologized to the teacher.
That was also fact.
Facts that impossible had only one answer.
Tokisaki Kurumi was more dangerous than I had understood.
I walked directly to her desk.
She looked up at me with that same harmless smile.
"It's Tobiichi-san," she said. "Do you need something from me?"
"Yes."
I did not soften it.
"Come with me."
Then I turned and walked out.
She followed after a moment.
I led her toward the quiet upper corridor near the rooftop access, a place where few people came during lunch and fewer still lingered.
By the time we reached it, she had one hand against the railing and a faint, theatrical breathlessness in her voice.
"About that," she said, "is something wrong? I haven't even eaten lunch yet..."
I turned to face her.
"You.." I said. "Why are you still alive?"
Her smile vanished.
"...Eh?"
"You should have died yesterday."
I knew what I had seen.
So I said it again.
"You were killed."
For the first time, genuine confusion crossed her face.
Then her expression shifted.
"...Ah," she murmured. "You. You were there yesterday with Mana-san."
A chill moved through me.
I stepped back instinctively.
That was when I knew.
"Well! Well!" Kurumi said, and her smile came back wrong this time—sharper, brighter, delighted in a way that made my skin crawl. "That reaction wasn't bad at all. Truly splendid. However..."
Something seized my ankle.
I looked down.
Her shadow had spread across the floor without me noticing.
Two pale arms rose from it.
Then more.
The shadow climbed the wall, and hands burst out of it, catching my wrists, shoulders, and throat, pinning me back hard enough to take the breath from me.
I struggled hard immediately.
It did nothing. Without my gear I was just a regular person..
The fingers only tightened.
Kurumi walked toward me slowly.
No trace of the harmless schoolgirl remained.
Only the thing underneath.
"I was in your care yesterday," she said softly. "Did you properly dispose of it? My body, that is."
Then she brushed her bangs aside.
The hidden eye beneath was gold.
Clocklike.
Strange and monstrous.
Cold ran straight through me.
"You wanted to know about me," she whispered. "And you brought me somewhere no one could interrupt. Don't you think that was terribly careless?"
I forced the words out through the pressure at my throat.
"What do you want?"
Kurumi's smile deepened.
"Ufufu. I wanted to attend school. That much is true." She leaned in closer. "But the greatest reason would have to be..."
Her voice softened.
"Shidou-san."
I went still.
The answer was so impossible for one second that my body forgot how to move.
She noticed and seemed pleased.
"Shidou... Why him though?" I asked
She put on a slow sweet smile that made me shiver.
"He is.... Amazing.." she murmured her eyes glazing for a second. "The best.... I want him. I need him as soon as possible..." she says, heavily breathing.
Her face was red and had a dirty smile on it. Her chest was slightly heaving.
Despite her state She continues "In order to obtain him... in order to become one with him... I came to this school."
A Spirit targeting one individual.
Itsuka Shidou.
Absurd.
And yet the certainty in her voice made it real in a way that logic no longer mattered against.
Kurumi's fingers traced lightly over my sleeve.
"You are lovely too, Tobiichi Origami-san," she said. "Sharp. Delicious in your own way." Her face came closer, so close her breath touched my skin. "But I cannot spend time on you first. Not before my Dear Shidou-san."
She smiled again, predatory and intimate in a way that made my body lock up harder than the shadows already had.
"I'll leave you for later," she whispered. "Do try to become even more interesting before then."
The shadows loosened and withdrew all at once.
I dropped to one knee, coughing.
By the time I looked up, she was already descending the stairs, her shadow following after her like spilled ink.
If I reported those words exactly, headquarters would still struggle to believe all of them.
A Spirit targeting one individual.
Shidou.
But whether they believed it or not, I knew one thing clearly.
I had to protect him...
——
By the time I reached the physics lab, Kotori and Reine were already there.
Kotori looked at me first. Reine was next to her typing away at a computer attached to a large screen.
She looks me up and down and frowns.
Then, before anything else, she asked, "Are you okay?"
That caught me off guard enough to make me blink.
"Uh... Yeah?" I said flatly.
Kotori clicked her tongue softly.
"You were crying yesterday," she muttered. "So I'm asking now. Are you okay with seeing something a little intense?"
Ah right.
Jeez she really was protective...
I leaned one shoulder against the desk and shoved my hands into my pockets.
"I'm fine."
She frowned deeper.
"That didn't sound convincing."
"It wasn't trying to."
Reine clicked the mouse.
The monitor lit up.
Bright colors. Ridiculous title.
[Fall in Love•My•Little•Shidou 2 Love, is it scary]
I froze.
"...A SEQUEL?!?" I screeched like a little girl.
Kotori slapped a hand over her forehead.
"Crap, Wrong one."
Reine clicked again.
"Minor issue."
"That is not minor!" I said. "That is trauma...."
The screen changed.
Then the real footage began.
I calmed down as I watched the camera footage.
A dark alley....
It was still slightly light out with hints of yellow orange outside the shadows.
In the middle multiple figures.
Kurumi.
Mana.
AST in formation. Origami among them.
Mana was in her territory with a strange sword next to her. Kurumi's shadows rose and formed that black-and-red Astral Dress around her.
Then the fight began.
Or rather, the killing did...
Kurumi moved.
Mana moved faster.
Fast. Cold. Precise.
Kurumi barely got the chance to fire a shot before Mana cut into her.
Blood hit the wall.
I didn't flinch.
Didn't look away.
Didn't feel fear.
What rose in me instead was darker.
Disgust.
Cold disappointment.
Mana did that.
His so called "Sister"
I felt disgust..
And beneath that, a thin, unwanted thread of protectiveness toward Kurumi that I hated the moment I recognized it.
Kurumi was dangerous. Manipulative. Predatory. No angel.
But Mana—
Mana was killing her like this was routine.
Too clean.
Too practiced.
Too casual.
"She's a murderer," I said.
The words came out low and flat.
Kotori looked at me at once.
Surprise flickered over her face first. Then concern. Real concern. The kind she tried to hide and wasn't hiding well enough.
Mana kept moving on-screen.
No visible conflict.
No hesitation.
Only routine.
That was the worst part.
"She doesn't feel anything," I said quietly.
Reine tilted her head.
"Perhaps she conceals it."
I kept my eyes on the monitor.
"No. That isn't concealment. That's habit."
When the footage ended, the room felt heavier.
Kotori folded her arms, but the worry never fully left her face.
"Yesterday, Tokisaki Kurumi was killed by Takamiya Mana," she said. "Today, Tokisaki Kurumi returned to school."
"That's the contradiction."
"Yes."
I stared at the paused image.
Alive. Dead. Alive again.
Wrong all the way through.
"What do you need me to do?" I asked.
Kotori straightened slightly.
"Tomorrow is the school anniversary holiday."
"Yeah."
"Then today, you invite Tokisaki Kurumi out."
I looked at her.
She pointed at me.
"If we have any chance to raise her favorability and get a sealing opportunity, we move now."
I didn't answer immediately.
The footage was still under my skin.
That hated little sliver of protectiveness toward Kurumi was still there too.
But I nodded.
"Fine," I said. "I'll do it."
Kotori watched me for a second longer than necessary.
Then, quieter, she added, "If this becomes too much, say so."
I met her eyes.
"It isn't too much," I said. "It's just a bit ugly."
She didn't argue.
—-
Lunch break was almost over, and I still hadn't opened my bento.
Even though I was hungry...
Even though Shidou had told me he would come back soon.
I had waited anyway.
That should have made me feel better.
Instead, the empty space beside me felt bigger with every minute.
I looked at the door again.
Then at my lunch.
Then back at the door.
Shidou....
Shidou...
Where is He?
My eyes started stinging before I even understood why. I sniffle through my nose.
That was when Ai, Mai, and Mii came in.
All three of them stopped the moment they saw me.
"Ehh? Tohka-chan?"
"Why haven't you eaten!?"
"Who did this?!"
I tried to explain.
I really did.
But by the time I admitted that Shidou still hadn't come back and that somehow eating without him felt wrong and that not being able to talk to him made everything lonelier than it should have, I was already crying again.
The three of them reacted like Shidou had committed a public atrocity.
"How can he make such a cute girl cry?!"
"We should punish him!"
"True player scum!"
I did not know exactly what that meant, but it sounded serious.
So I explained again.
"It isn't his fault!"
They looked unconvinced.
"It's just..." I mumbled. "When I can talk with him and eat with him and be with him, I feel better..."
Ai's expression softened first.
Then Mai's.
Then even Mii's.
"So basically," Ai said, "you're happiest when you can spend time with Itsuka-kun?"
I nodded.
Mai put a hand dramatically to her chest.
"Pure..."
"Advanced symptoms," Mii added solemnly.
Then Ai brightened.
"Tomorrow!"
I blinked.
"Tomorrow?"
She reached into her bag and pulled out two aquarium tickets.
"Tomorrow is the school anniversary holiday, right? Go with Itsuka-kun."
Mai gasped.
"Those were for you and Kashiwada-kun—"
Ai clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Do not expose me in front of the patient."
Then all three of them pushed the tickets toward me.
"You must take them!"
"For happiness!"
"For youth!"
I took them automatically.
Ai collapsed across two desks like a tragic heroine.
"Tohka-chan... you and Itsuka-kun must carry our dream..."
I stared.
Then she sat back up like nothing had happened.
"You'll invite him on a date," she said firmly.
I looked down at the tickets.
Then back at them.
"Invite...?"
"Yes. On a date."
A date.
That word alone made my heart jump.
Then the next problem arrived.
"But.... How do I ask him?" I titled my head.
The three of them smiled.
___
By the time last homeroom ended, I was both terrified and determined.
After school, I went straight to Kurumi.
I could feel Tohka's hopeful gaze and Origami's frozen one before I even reached her desk.
I ignored both.
"Kurumi," I said. "Do you have a minute?"
She looked up and smiled warmly.
"Of course."
I led her out into the corridor where it was quieter, then stopped and scratched my cheek.
"This is sudden..." I said, "but are you free tomorrow?"
Her eye widened a little.
"Yes." She said instantly.
"Then if it's okay with you... want to go out with me? Around town. Like a date."
Kurumi brightened immediately.
"Really?"
"Yeah. If that's okay."
"It would make me very happy."
"Then tomorrow," I said, "ten-thirty. At Tenguu Station. In front of the ticket gates."
"Yes," she said giving me a deep look. I'll be waiting...."
I blush a bit at her deep look. She smiles wider amused.
I then nodded and headed back.
When I slid the classroom door open, Origami was already there.
Her gaze locked onto mine immediately.
"What did you say to her?"
Her voice was calm.
Far too calm.
"It's nothing."
"Answer me."
I looked at her for a second.
Maybe it was the trembling I'd seen that morning. Maybe it was the tension still hanging around her. Maybe I was just too tired to be blunt.
"I'll tell you later..." I said quietly. "Just... not here."
For a second, something in her expression shifted. The smallest easing. The tiniest crack in the tension.
"Fine..." she said.
Then the hallway noise rushed back in and I moved past her before either of us could make it more awkward than it already was.
I grabbed my bag and called, "Tohka! Let's head home!"
Tohka jumped.
"Nu? U-umu!"
And that was that.
I escaped before Origami could pin me down with questions.
On the way home, Tohka kept trying to say something.
Every few steps, she'd inhale like she was finally about to say it.
Then she'd go red, look away, and lose the nerve halfway through the first sound.
Of course I noticed.
I just had no idea what she was trying to do.
By the time we got home, she had somehow made herself look even stranger.
Then she followed me inside without even pretending she meant to go next door first.
That should have warned me.
I took off my shoes and looked back at her.
"You're not going to your room?"
She stiffened like she'd been caught doing something illegal.
"Th-that is... unnecessary!"
That was not a normal answer.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Tohka, are you okay?"
"Yes!"
The answer came too fast.
Then, as if realizing that just shouting yes wasn't enough to make her look normal, she turned away from me and marched deeper into the room with all the rigid determination of someone heading into battle.
I watched her go.
Yep.
Definitely strange.
The moment she reached the living room, she looked around wildly, like she was checking for witnesses.
Then she marched to the curtains and yanked them shut.
The room dimmed.
I stared.
"Tohka..?"
"J-just a moment!"
That was somehow even less comforting.
She set her bag down, fumbled through it, and pulled out a piece of paper. She glanced at it, nodded to herself with terrifying seriousness, then looked back at me with enough determination to make me genuinely nervous.
"...What," I asked slowly, "are you doing?"
"To ask you properly," she said.
I blinked.
"Uhm... ask what?."
She took a breath.
Then looked at the memo again.
Then at me.
Then back down.
And then, with the solemnity of someone enacting military doctrine, she lowered herself awkwardly onto the carpet.
I stared.
She shifted once.
Twice.
Tried to arch her back in some strange way and angle one knee forward.
Then froze there, cheeks burning, clearly waiting for something to happen.
I looked at her for a long second.
"...Tohka."
"Yes!?"
"What are you doing?"
She looked down at the memo, then back at me, mortified.
"This is..." she said, voice wobbling, "the pose of the female leopard."
I went quiet for two full seconds.
Then another two.
"T-The what?"
"T-The female leopard!" she repeated, face turning even redder. "Ai and the others said it is a secret move."
"Right," I said slowly. "And uh... what exactly is it supposed to do?"
She looked honestly confused by the question.
"Make you... fall over?"
I put a hand over my face.
Somewhere far away, civilization was crying.
Tohka looked down at herself, then back at the memo, and visibly lost confidence.
"It is not working," she muttered.
"I uh... I'm lost.." I say weakly.
She sprang back to her feet at once and looked so embarrassed that I almost felt bad for her.
Almost.
Then she checked the memo again.
Her expression hardened with renewed determination.
"Then I will use the next one."
For some reason, that sentence filled me with dread.
"Tohka—?"
Too late.
She fumbled the two aquarium tickets out of her bag with shaking hands. For one second she just held them there, staring at them and then at me like she was trying to gather enough courage to charge into battle.
Then, blushing so hard I was amazed she stayed standing, she put one ticket between her lips while adjusting herself, glanced at the memo again, then hurriedly tucked both tickets into the valley of her chest.
I turned red so fast it actually hurt.
"Wha—!"
My eyes snapped away on instinct, which somehow only made me more aware of everything, not less.
"S-shidou.." Tohka said in a tiny, shaking voice. "Take them."
I covered part of my face with one hand.
"Oh, come on..." I mutter blushing. "T-this is ridiculous Tohka.."
"I-I Ihave to do it properly!" she insisted, though even she sounded deeply unconvinced by her own logic.
"Who even taught you this?"
"Ai and the others."
"Of course they did..."
My ears were burning.
I looked away, then back, then away again, trying to decide whether I was more embarrassed or more worried that if I left her alone with that memo any longer, she might actually reach the next step and kill me from sheer psychological damage.
Tohka shifted from foot to foot.
"They said," she whispered, still blushing furiously, "that if the female leopard did not work... then this one was stronger."
"I'm starting to think they are criminals."
She puffed her cheeks, although even that looked shy right now.
"it should work..." she whispered.
The worst part was that she looked so earnest about it.
Not bold.
Not provocative.
Just sincerely, terrifyingly serious. Trembling with embarrassment and trying as hard as she could to do something she obviously didn't understand because she wanted me to accept the invitation the right way.
That made it worse somehow.
And warmer.
And much harder to scold her the way I probably should have.
I rubbed the back of my neck, took one steadying breath, and forced myself to look at her.
"Tohka."
She went still immediately.
"Next time," I said, "start with the invitation."
She looked down.
"...Then this is wrong?"
"It is very wrong."
That made her flinch.
I sighed.
Then softened my voice.
"The invitation part isn't wrong," I said. "The weird battle tactics are."
Tohka looked back up at me carefully.
"Then... if you take them... will that mean yes?"
That was the part that got through all the embarrassment.
Not the pose.
Not the tickets.
Just the fact that under all this nonsense, she was actually asking me.
I let out a slow breath, stepped closer, and reached very carefully toward the tickets.
"Don't move," I muttered, mostly because I needed her to stay still.
Her whole body went rigid.
I could feel how nervous she was from where I stood.
And if I was being honest, I probably looked just as bad.
I took the tickets between two fingers as carefully as I could, trying very hard not to brush anywhere I absolutely shouldn't. Even then, the warmth of her through the uniform made my face burn all over again.
The second the tickets were free, I stepped back.
Tohka looked at me wide-eyed, cheeks bright red, breathing just a little too fast.
I looked at the tickets in my hand.
Then at her.
Then back at the tickets again.
"Okay," I said, voice rougher than I wanted it to be. "I'm taking them. We'll go on a date Ok?"
Her whole face lit up.
Really lit up.
Like someone had opened all the windows in the room at once.
Then, before I could say anything else, she clasped her hands in front of her chest and looked at me with nervous, hopeful determination.
"Then..."
I braced myself.
"Can I ask for another kiss?"
That threw me harder than the ticket stunt had.
"What?"
Tohka went even redder.
"You... gave me one before lunch," she said, voice shrinking smaller with every word. "And if this is a date invitation... then..."
She trailed off and touched her cheek lightly with one finger.
Oh.
That.
Warmth hit me a second before embarrassment did.
"You really don't know how unfair you can be sometimes," I muttered.
Tohka blinked.
"Nu?"
"Nothing."
I took one step closer again.
She stood perfectly still, looking up at me with all the nervous hope in the world packed into her face.
Then I bent down and pressed another light kiss to her cheek.
Her whole body jolted, but she didn't pull away.
When I drew back, she puffed her cheeks just a little.
"...Shidou."
I blinked.
"Eh? What?"
Tohka looked away, then back up at me, face burning so hard I thought she might actually combust.
"That was... not on the lips."
For one second, I just stared at her.
Then my brain caught up.
My face went hot all over again.
"You can't just say that this calmly!"
"I was not calm!" she blurted at once, scandalized by the accusation. "I am very not calm!"
That somehow made it worse.
I could feel the heat climbing all the way to my ears.
Tohka looked just as red as I felt, but she still stood there, hands clenched at her chest, stubbornly holding her ground.
"I..." she said, forcing the words out despite how embarrassed she was, "I wanted the proper one."
The proper one.
I looked away for a second and covered my mouth with one hand.
This was unfair.
Deeply unfair.
She had no idea how destructive that kind of honesty could be.
And the worst part was that it didn't feel manipulative at all. It was just Tohka. Straightforward, sincere, and accidentally devastating.
I let out a slow breath.
When I looked back at her, she was still there, still waiting, cheeks red, eyes wide, hopeful and nervous all at once.
"...You're really going to make me die here, huh?"
Tohka tilted her head slightly.
"Will that happen from one kiss?"
"That is not the point."
She didn't answer that.
She just stayed where she was, clearly too embarrassed to ask again but too stubborn to retreat either.
I took another breath, stepped in a little closer, and lightly touched her waist.
That made her jump.
Then I bent and kissed her.
On the lips.
It was brief.
Still, the moment our lips met, I felt her go completely still, like her whole body had forgotten how to move.
When I pulled back, I was blushing hard enough that I could feel it in my neck.
Tohka looked like she had just been handed a divine revelation.
Her lips parted.
No sound came out at first.
Then, very softly:
"...Oh."
Yeah.
That about covered it.
I looked away and cleared my throat.
"There," I muttered. "Satisfied?"
Tohka stood there for one more second, completely stunned.
Then her face bloomed into the kind of bright, helpless happiness that made my chest go warm in a way I really didn't need right now.
"Yes!" she said at once. Then, realizing how loud that had been, she clapped both hands over her mouth.
I couldn't help it.
I laughed.
Just a little.
Tohka lowered her hands slowly, still smiling, still red, still very obviously one emotional push away from floating off the floor.
Then she remembered the important part.
"Tomorrow!" she declared. "Ten o'clock! At the Pachi statue in front of the station!"
Before I could say anything else, she took one step back.
Then another.
And clearly realized that if she stayed even a second longer, she was going to melt into a puddle from embarrassment.
So she turned and ran.
Actually ran.
I stood there for a long moment staring at the doorway she had vanished through.
Then at the two aquarium tickets in my hand.
Then at the memo lying open on the table.
Curiosity won.
Of course it did.
I picked it up.
[Tohka-chan's Seduction Plan]
1. The pose of a female leopard
2. Use your breasts to hold the ticket
3. If those fail, push him down
I lowered the memo very slowly.
Then raised it again to make sure I hadn't hallucinated step three.
I had not.
"Haa..." I muttered. "That was way more dangerous than I thought."
The front door opened.
Kotori stepped in, glanced once at the darkened room, and frowned immediately.
"Pulling the curtains shut while it's still bright," she said. "What kind of dirty things were you doing, Shidou?"
"I didn't do anything!"
She pointed at the ticket.
"What's that?"
"Tohka gave it to me," I said. "She invited me on a date."
Kotori blinked.
Then whistled softly.
"Oh? That's actually good progress. When?"
"Tomorrow."
She froze.
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
She stared at me for a second, then pinched the bridge of her nose.
"If it's tomorrow," she said slowly, "aren't you already seeing Kurumi?"
I went completely still.
Then remembered.
Kurumi.
Ten-thirty.
The station.
"...Can I back out of one?"
"No."
That answer came instantly.
"You absolutely cannot cancel on Tohka now. Her loneliness has already been rising since this morning. If you back out after she finally invited you, it'll hit hard."
"I'm not saying promises don't matter," I muttered, "but this is getting aggressive."
Kotori folded her arms.
"We'll support you. Make both work."
I stared at her.
"Both."
"Both."
"Haa..."
Well I suppose I can make two work...
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number...?
I answered warily.
"Hello?"
A calm voice came through.
"Yes."
I went still.
"...Origami?"
"Yes."
A bead of sweat slid down the side of my face.
"You know you could have just asked me for my number right.."
Silence.
Then:
"Tomorrow is a holiday."
"Right..."
"You cannot be left alone."
I blinked.
"What?"
"Eleven o'clock. The plaza outside Tenguu Station."
"...Why?"
"Date."
I looked down at the phone like it had personally offended me.
"You're kidding."
"I am not."
A pause.
"Be there."
Then she hung up.
I lowered the phone slowly.
Kotori was already staring at me.
"...Who was that?"
"Origami."
Her eyebrows shot up.
"No...."
"She wants..." I rubbed my forehead. "A date."
Kotori closed her eyes.
Then sighed like the whole world had disappointed her in one coordinated effort.
"Speaking of dates," she said, "it can't possibly also be tomorrow."
"It is."
Another long silence.
Then Kotori covered part of her face with one hand and groaned softly.
I dropped onto the sofa and stared at the ceiling.
Tohka at ten.
Kurumi at ten-thirty.
Origami at eleven.
All in the same general station area.
Tomorrow was no longer a schedule.
It was an execution order.
And somewhere beneath all that absurdity, the real weight was still there too.
The room.
The gun.
The voice.
Mana's face over the alley footage.
Kurumi's blood on the wall.
The cracked glass over that old photograph.
All of it lodged under my skin like splinters.
"...Third date," I muttered.
Kotori looked over.
"What?"
"Nothing," I said.
Then I shut my eyes.
And even with tomorrow waiting for me like a trap, the clearest thing still sitting in my mind wasn't the station.
It was Mana standing over Kurumi's body—
and the ugly certainty that whatever connection I might have to her, I was never going to be able to forget that look on her face.