If Mio Takamiya Found Out, Would She Be Mad?~

"Tohka?" Shiori turned her head in confusion. "Why did you turn into a woman?"

Shiori felt a little embarrassed and rubbed the girls' school uniform that had been put on her.

"Um, well..." She scratched her cheek awkwardly, unable to think of how to explain such a complicated situation to the innocent Tohka.

"Hehe~ That's because Shido has two forms, of course: a male form and a female form."

Qian Huanyue walked over first and naturally picked up the conversation as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. She said it so matter-of-factly that even Shiori froze for a moment.

Upon hearing that, Tohka suddenly understood. Rather than finding it strange, she looked as though she had discovered a whole new world. She circled Shiori once and studied her curiously. "Two forms? That's amazing! Like... like changing clothes?"

32... Hehe, as expected of 32. She was the intuitive type—pretty easy to deal with.

Tohka was so amusing.

"Pretty much!" Qian Huanyue nodded with a smile, continuing her absurd explanation. "So, the one standing before us right now is in 'Shiori mode.' Isn't she cute too?"

Tohka nodded vigorously, her gaze utterly pure. "Yeah! Shiori is cute!"

Listening to their overly natural conversation, Shiori did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Um, do... do you want to hold hands?"

Perhaps she had seen something like that on a television screen along the way, because Tohka brought it up quite naturally.

Without much thought, Qian Huanyue clasped Tohka's hand. Both of them were Spirits, so their fingers were naturally flawless. Even though they often gripped sword hilts, they did not develop the calluses ordinary people had.

Seeing Shiori still standing there blankly, Qian Huanyue gently tugged at her sleeve with her free right hand. Only then did Shiori snap back to herself and carefully take Tohka's right hand.

"See? The humans in that black box were right." Tohka smiled and tightened her grip slightly. "This feels really nice."

Kind of adorably silly.

That was what Qian Huanyue thought.

Tohka suddenly stopped in front of an arcade. She pressed her whole face against the glass display window, her warm breath fogging it white. Pointing at the glowing claw machine inside, she said, "Kinako bread!"

It was a pillow shaped like kinako bread. It seemed this girl's love for kinako bread had extended to everything related to it.

"Go, Shiori-chan! Go, Tohka-chan!" Qian Huanyue cheered the two of them on. She even seriously raised a clenched fist and spun in a circle like an anime character. Her silver hair drew a shining arc through the air. Rather than looking ridiculous, it gave her an especially charming contrast.

Shiori gulped, feeling as if her heart had been struck.

...So cute!!

Her fighting spirit rose unexpectedly high. Rolling up her sleeves, she solemnly inserted a game coin. "I'll definitely get it."

Even Tohka was affected. She swung her arms like Qian Huanyue. "G-Go!"

The trio's interaction drew glances from passersby, but none of them noticed.

As Shiori focused intently on controlling the joystick, Tohka nervously clenched the hem of her clothes and even softened her breathing.

The claw swayed as it slowly hooked the bread pillow toward the prize chute. Just as the pillow was about to reach the finish, the claw suddenly loosened as expected—every claw machine player's most familiar moment of despair.

The golden-yellow pillow fell through the air, but when it hit the bottom, it cleverly rolled with the rebound and landed right at the edge of the prize chute. Half of its plush fabric hung outside the passage, swaying slightly with the machine's vibrations.

At this point, all it would take was one more coin to grab it.

Shiori wore a determined smile and inserted another game coin without hesitation.

"This time, it'll definitely work!"

And Qian Huanyue was naturally grabbing prizes elsewhere. Compared to merely watching, she had always enjoyed participating personally more.

While Shiori was still battling the kinako bread pillow, Qian Huanyue had already hummed her way to winning four tiny panda keychains. They jingled from her fingers and swayed lightly with her movements.

"It fell out!"

Tohka's lively voice rang out beside her. Without even thinking, Qian Huanyue knew that bread-shaped pillow had been won.

Qian Huanyue planned to keep grabbing more, intending to give one to every Kurumi staying at home.

When Shiori walked over carrying her prize, Qian Huanyue was intently controlling a joystick. The side of the silver-haired Spirit's face, her lips slightly pursed, looked especially vivid beneath the arcade lights. The way her fingertips tapped the buttons carried the lively energy unique to a young girl.

There were still quite a few coins left in the cup.

Shiori immediately took a liking to a small bear plush in another claw machine. She thought its size was perfect both for hanging from a schoolbag and for displaying in a room.

How about giving this to Huanyue?

The thought made her smile unconsciously, and she immediately threw herself into a new "battle."

Meanwhile, after getting her pillow, Tohka's attention was drawn to the whack-a-mole machine beside it. Gripping a plastic hammer, she struck down with astonishing force every time a mole popped up—

"Bang!"

The machine let out a groan of protest, and after its screen flickered a few times, it went completely black.

Just as Tohka stood there blankly with her hammer raised, two staff members in repair uniforms quickly appeared.

They efficiently replaced it with a brand-new machine. The entire process took less than thirty seconds. Before leaving, they gave Tohka professional smiles. "We hope you enjoy your game."

Qian Huanyue caught sight of the Fraxinus emblem faintly visible at the workers' collars and could not help chuckling. She collected the last panda keychain she had her eye on.

When she turned around, she happened to see Shiori walking toward her with the carefully chosen little bear plush in her hands.

"This..." Shiori blushed slightly as she held the bear out to her. "I thought it suited you."

Qian Huanyue's eyes widened slightly as she accepted the bear in surprise.

The Aha in her mind reconnected to Bluetooth.

Her thoughts began wandering in a peculiar direction.

Shido, you gave me a little bear like this... If Mio Takamiya found out, would she get mad?~

That dangerous thought lasted only an instant. Qian Huanyue knew that Mio, as the First Spirit, probably was not that petty. Although Qian Huanyue possessed a great deal of spiritual power, her mastery of Angels was nowhere near that exaggerated. If the First Spirit wanted to confront her head-on, Qian Huanyue probably would not have much chance of winning.

Even though she was not a Spirit created by Mio.

Without changing her expression, she tucked the tiny bear into her clothes and stroked the plush toy's soft ears with her fingertips. When she looked up again, her face was filled with the radiant smile of someone who had received a gift she truly loved. She spoke with utmost sincerity:

"Thank you. I'll treasure it! Shiori."

Those words made Shiori's eyes light up at once. Watching Qian Huanyue carefully tuck the plush into the pocket at her chest, Shiori's lips curled upward.