Yoshino's Hand Puppet

Having caught up on sleep, Shiori was especially energetic.

Shiori took off her apron, opened the top compartment of the refrigerator, and took out several rows of pudding.

"So much?" She was a little surprised by the amount, then neatly arranged the puddings to free up more space in the fridge.

"That must have cost her quite a bit." Although Shiori's allowance was relatively generous for someone her age, she still could not bring herself to buy so much at once.

Shiori considered asking Kotori to reimburse part of the expense, then splurging on some good ingredients next time and inviting her over for a meal.

That girl seemed especially fond of sweet desserts.

Would she like homemade treats?

Kotori's unusually mature voice in Commander Mode came through her earpiece.

"Shiori, a new Spirit has appeared. Stay where you are. We'll teleport you to the Fraxinus in a moment."

"Huh? Um... okay." Shiori froze for a moment before quickly responding.

She gently put the pudding back into the refrigerator, straightened up, and waited for the teleportation.

Almost the next second, the familiar sensation of weightlessness hit her. The scenery around her shifted instantly, and she was already standing on the technologically advanced bridge of the Fraxinus.

"What's the situation, Kotori?" Shiori immediately asked, looking toward the central main screen.

A Chupa Chups stick protruded from Kotori's mouth as she operated the console with a serious expression, enlarging the image on the screen.

"This is her—the Spirit whose appearance was just confirmed. Her codename is Hermit."

Qian Huanyue seemed to have had all her strength drained away as she slowly slumped to the floor.

She covered her face with both hands, her shoulders trembling slightly as whimpering breaths slipped through her fingers. She looked as though she were about to cry.

"Ugh... Kurumi, you're so mean..."

Her violet eyes peeked through her fingers at Kurumi's reaction. When she found that Kurumi was completely unmoved, she simply gave up and buried her face in her knees.

Eek...! That move didn't work on Original Kurumi.

How depressing.

First-Meeting Kurumi always fell for this kind of thing.

But against the battle-hardened Original Kurumi, this level of pitiful act was clearly futile.

"Ha..." Qian Huanyue suddenly sighed and stood up as if she had resigned herself to it.

She turned toward the white cat sunbathing on the windowsill, scooped up the cat named "Dog," and stuffed her into Kurumi's arms without hesitation.

"Meow~" Dog cooperatively let out a cutesy cry, rubbed against Kurumi's arms, then obediently raised a front paw to reveal soft pink paw pads. Those round cat eyes gazed innocently at Kurumi.

This sudden "cat attack" visibly stunned Kurumi.

She instinctively caught the fluffy white cat. When her fingertips touched the warm, soft fur and pink paw pads, a crack appeared in her tense expression.

"My, my..." Kurumi looked down at the cat acting cute in her arms, then glanced at Qian Huanyue's triumphant expression and sighed helplessly. "Honestly... to think you'd use such a tactic."

She gently scratched Dog beneath the chin, listening to the cat's satisfied purring.

"So... the pudding ban...?"

Kurumi glanced at her, then looked down at the cat rolling over to expose her belly. In the end, she gave a soft snort. "...I'll reluctantly allow you one a day."

"Yay! Kurumi, you're the best!" Qian Huanyue immediately cheered and tried to push her luck by throwing herself at Kurumi for a hug, only for Kurumi to lightly stop her with a finger against her forehead.

"But," Kurumi added, "for the next half month, you'll be responsible for all of Dog's daily care, including but not limited to feeding, brushing, and cleaning the litter box... You are not to trouble Miss Nia or the past me."

"Huh!" Qian Huanyue stiffened completely, the smile on her face instantly freezing.

The moment she heard she had to take care of the cat, she had indeed thought of asking the obedient "Nia" for help, or secretly asking one of Kurumi's more easygoing clones...

Her little scheme had been completely seen through. With a somewhat resigned expression, she said, "...No problem."

"This is not a drill. Residents, please evacuate to the shelters immediately. Repeating the announcement..."

The Spacequake alarm pierced through the walls and echoed clearly throughout the room.

"Hm?!"

Yoshino had hidden inside a building to evade AST's pursuit, only to find that AST had not entered the building.

As a Spirit with a naturally gentle disposition, she simply could not bring herself to do anything that would harm others.

Feeling slightly relieved, she carefully raised Yoshinon, the rabbit hand puppet, before her face. With her other hand, she put on Yoshino Junior and took it out to interact with Yoshinon.

"Yoshino~ It seems someone is coming," Yoshinon suddenly said in a cheerful tone.

"!"

Yoshino shuddered all over and anxiously turned toward the source of the noise.

She hugged Yoshinon and Yoshino Junior tightly, expecting to see the cold gleam of AST's Realizers.

However, the one who slowly emerged from the dark corner was not a fully armed AST member, but a blue-haired girl wearing a Raizen University uniform.

The girl wore a gentle, completely non-hostile expression. Her hands were slightly extended in front of her in a calming gesture.

"Um... please don't be afraid," Shiori said softly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Yoshino's eyes widened as she timidly shrank behind the wall. Yoshinon raised her head and observed this suddenly appearing older girl.

"Oh my, what a pretty big sister~" Yoshinon broke the silence in a lively tone. "She doesn't look like a bad person, Yoshino."

"Yes, I'm not a bad person." Shiori gently followed Yoshinon's lead. She slowly crouched down to make herself appear less threatening. "My name is Shiori Itsuka. What's your name?"

Yoshino timidly poked half her face out from behind Yoshinon, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "Yo... Yoshino..."

"I'm Yoshinon!" the rabbit hand puppet cheerfully added. "And this is Yoshino Junior! We're Yoshino's best friends!"

"Shiori, well done. Her emotions have calmed down."

Kotori brought up Ratatoskr's choices.

① May I ask what help you need?

② Wow, that hand puppet is so cute. Is that ventriloquism?

③ Hello, may I ask if you can go with me to (garbled text)?

This time, options one and two were neck and neck. Somehow, that incomprehensible third option had even received one vote.

For a Spirit like Hermit, who seemed so gentle, option two was the safer choice.

Kotori spoke into the microphone.

"Shiori, choose option two."

"Wow, that hand puppet is so cute. Is that ventriloquism?"

"Wahahahaha..." Yoshinon burst into laughter, the entire puppet shaking. "What an interesting thing to say! Big sister, you talk so amusingly. What is ventriloquism? Yoshinon doesn't understand."

"Um... sorry..." Shiori said, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's okay~" Yoshinon swayed from side to side. "Yoshinon is Yoshinon, an independent existence!"

AST floated outside the building with the aid of their Realizers.

"Has authorization to attack the building come through?" Origami, whose injuries had recovered, asked calmly.

"Higher-ups told us to stand by." Ryoko Kusakabe sighed softly in helplessness.

"..."