The cool moonlight seemed to soften considerably because of this unexpected encounter and sharing.
— The cool moonlight shone upon the shrine's stone steps, stretching the shadows of the two Spirits long and thin.
Aqua sat cross-legged, unreservedly feasting, while Yoshino ate the oden Aqua had shared with her in tiny bites, like a cautious small animal.
Occasionally, she would secretly lift her deep blue eyes, quickly glancing at this silver-haired, golden-eyed "peer" next to her, whose behavior exuded both earnestness and mystery.
Aside from the faint sounds of chewing and the chirping of insects, the scene was rather quiet.
Although Aqua was direct, she wasn't chatty; she was focused on savoring the delicious food. As for Yoshino, she was as timid as a mimosa plant and dared not speak first.
Fortunately, Yoshino was there.
"Oh dear, Miss Aqua has truly helped us a lot!"
The rabbit hand puppet, Yoshinon, bounced lively, breaking the silence.
"Our Yoshinon was just starving, so meeting such a kind lady like you is truly a lucky day! Isn't that right, Yoshino?"
Yoshino's small face was slightly red, and she nodded vigorously, still without speaking, only hiding her face further behind Yoshino.
Aqua swallowed the fried chicken piece in her mouth, tilted her head, and looked at Yoshinon, asking curiously: "Why... can you talk?~☆ Are you... possessed? Or something else?~☆"
Relying on her limited knowledge obtained from Koushi and her Spirit senses, she could feel a strange connection between Yoshinon and the puppet, yet it wasn't quite the same.
"Hahaha! Miss Aqua has sharp eyes!" Yoshino let out a comical laugh.
"Yoshino is Yoshino! We are Yoshino's best friend! We are always together! As for why we can talk... that's a secret~!" It cleverly avoided the core question.
"Oh..."
Aqua nodded, half-understanding, and didn't press the matter further; her attention quickly returned to the food.
"Try this cotton candy quickly!~☆ It's sweet and melts instantly!~☆"
She pointed to the rainbow cotton candy placed next to Yoshino that was almost untouched.
Encouraged by Yoshino, Yoshino cautiously extended the tip of her tongue and licked the fluffy cotton candy.
Instantly, the sweetness dissolved in her mouth. Her deep blue eyes brightened slightly, and although she still didn't speak, a subtle, satisfied expression appeared on her face.
"It seems Yoshinon really likes it!" Yoshinon expressed on her behalf.
"Miss Aqua, where are you from? We've never seemed to see you before! And the feeling you give off... hmm... it's very special!"
Yoshino keenly sensed the contained yet vast Spirit power fluctuations on Aqua, which were unlike those of ordinary Spirits, particularly the faint spatial and lightning aura.
"Me?~☆" Aqua licked the sugar residue off her fingers and answered matter-of-factly.
"I came from 'home'!~☆ Special feeling? Maybe it's because I'm quite powerful!~☆"
She had no intention of hiding it, but she couldn't explain the specifics, so she could only describe it using the word "powerful."
*After all, this King is the Heavenly Judgment! Even though she's called Aqua now~☆.* She added mentally.
Yoshinon was amused by the frank answer: "Hahaha, Miss Aqua is truly an interesting person! Being powerful is good; if you're powerful, bad people won't bully you!"
"Bad people?~☆"
Aqua thought of the AST members who attacked Tohka.
"Are they those people wearing strange machines?~☆ They are certainly annoying! But it's fine, they can't beat me!~☆ If they dare come, I'll throw them all into a space rift to play for a while!~☆"
She said this casually, as if discussing throwing trash into a bin.
Yoshino visibly flinched when she heard words like "AST" and "fight," a trace of fear flashing in her eyes.
"Oh dear, let's not talk about such scary things!"
Yoshino quickly intervened, gently patting Yoshino to soothe her.
"Look how scared Yoshino is. Let's talk about tasty food instead! Miss Aqua, where did you buy these snacks? They smell so good!"
"Just over there!~☆"
Aqua excitedly pointed toward the night market.
"There are so, so many delicious things there! And everyone is very nice; they even treated me!~☆ Next time I'll take you both with me!~☆"
"Really? That would be wonderful! We Yoshino would love to see it too!" Yoshino said happily, and Yoshinon also lifted her head slightly, a hint of longing in her eyes.
However, this tranquility did not last long.
"Waaah—!!!" "Run!" "Don't push! My child! My baby!"
A faint but noisy clamor, mixed with terrified screams and chaotic running, faintly drifted in on the night wind from the direction of the distant night market.
That sound was completely different from the earlier lively and cheerful atmosphere, filled instead with panic and unease.
Aqua, who was holding a fried chicken leg and preparing to take a bite, suddenly froze upon hearing the commotion.
Her golden eyes instantly sharpened, and like a beast sensing danger, she cocked her head, listening carefully to the disturbance in the distance.
She immediately put down the chicken leg in her hand. The relaxed, enjoying expression vanished, replaced by a mixture of alertness and displeasure at her "territory" being violated.
That place was the "treasure trove" where she had just experienced kindness and delicious food!
"What's wrong, Miss Aqua?" Yoshinon also noticed the change in Aqua's expression and the strange sounds from afar.
"Something happened at the night market!" Aqua stood up, speaking quickly. "I need to go check it out!"
She glanced at the various snacks still uneaten on the stone steps, then looked at Yoshinon, who seemed frightened by the sudden turn of events and was instinctively hugging Yoshino, and said without hesitation:
"I'll leave all this food for you two! I'm going to check the situation!~☆"
Although Yoshino was scared, seeing Aqua's figure preparing to head toward the dangerous area without hesitation, and recalling the warmth and kindness of her sharing the food just now, a flicker of struggle crossed her deep blue eyes, instantly transforming into a faint but determined light.
Yoshinon immediately understood and spoke in its unique tone: "Wait a moment, Miss Aqua! Let us Yoshinon come with you! Although we might not be much help, every little bit counts! Besides, we can't just accept your treat for nothing!"
Aqua looked at Yoshino with some surprise. The shy Spirit was still looking down, her small hands nervously clasped together, but she nodded firmly.
(Oh? This timid fellow actually wants to help?~☆)
Aqua didn't hesitate long; this was no time for politeness.
"Alright! Then stick close!~☆"
She snapped her fingers sharply! "Snap!"
A spatial gate, its edges flickering with purple electric light, instantly opened before the shrine's stone steps. Inside the gate were swirling, distorted spatial ripples, and from the other side, the clearer sounds of chaos from the night market faintly drifted through.
"Let's go!"
Aqua took the lead and stepped into the spatial gate, her figure vanishing instantly.
Yoshino stared at the miraculous spatial gate, her mouth slightly agape in surprise.
But with Yoshinon's encouragement, "Hurry and follow, Yoshino!" she gathered her courage, hugged Yoshinon, and dashed into the spatial gate.
The spatial gate quickly closed and vanished after they entered.
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