Chapter 18

"...I want to go. I really, really want to!"

"Yeah! Lady Tohka, please come with us! We're so weak. If someone attacks us, you can protect us!"

Shido and Lingmeng pleaded.

At their words, the corners of Tohka's mouth lifted slightly. Their approach seemed to be working.

"Oh, what am I going to do with you two? Since you're begging me so sincerely, I'll go in with you!"

Beaming, Tohka strode over and opened the bakery door.

Shido and Lingmeng exchanged a smile, then followed her inside.

Meanwhile, a girl watched everything from behind a wall. It was Origami Tobiichi.

When Origami arrived at school that morning, she learned classes had been canceled and decided to head home. On the way, however, she happened to spot her boyfriend, Shido Itsuka, walking down the street with two girls.

The one with long golden hair was fine; Origami didn't consider her a threat to Shido. The purple-haired one was another matter.

She was the Spirit Origami had fought yesterday, the one with the Identification Code Princess.

Ordinarily, a being like her appearing in this world should have triggered an alarm and caused a Spacequake. Yet somehow, Princess had manifested today without one. Origami couldn't make sense of it.

"AST, Sergeant Origami Tobiichi. A-0613."

Origami tapped her phone, selected a number from her contacts, and gave her identity and verification code before getting straight to the point.

"Send an observation unit."

"Hey, don't they sell Kinako Bread here?"

Lingmeng and the others had left the bakery and entered a restaurant.

After eating Kinako Bread at the bakery, Tohka seemed to have fallen in love with the taste. She scanned the menu at lightning speed, searching for it.

"This is a restaurant. They don't sell Kinako Bread here."

Lingmeng watched her and offered a helpless reminder.

"What? No Kinako Bread? If they don't even have that, this place can't be very good."

Tohka sounded deflated.

"...You can't blame the restaurant for that. It doesn't sell bread. Besides, didn't you just eat a ton of it?"

Shido smiled wryly. He had watched Tohka eat more than a dozen servings!

"But I want more. What is that powder, anyway? It's so addictive. If people let it spread through the world unchecked, there'll be serious trouble. Everyone will tremble with withdrawal and start wars over the kinako."

"You're overthinking it. They can make as much as anyone wants."

Seeing Tohka make such a fuss over ordinary bread, Lingmeng hurried to explain.

"What? Something that wonderful can be made forever?"

"Uh...more or less."

Shido scratched his cheek awkwardly under Tohka's astonished gaze.

"Pfft!" Someone at the table across from Shido and Lingmeng suddenly spat out a mouthful of water.

"...Hm?"

At first, Shido assumed the person had choked, so he paid no attention. Tohka was studying the menu too intently to notice. Lingmeng, though, glanced over without thinking.

Across from them sat a little red-haired girl in a middle-school uniform, her twin tails tied with white ribbons. Beside her was a white-haired woman in her twenties wearing a pale knit top and jeans, with heavy shadows under her eyes.

Noticing Lingmeng's gaze, the younger girl hurriedly raised her menu to hide her face.

The white-haired woman saw her do it and lifted her own menu to cover her face as well.

Ah, staring at strangers is rude. I'd probably do the same thing in their place.

Not wanting to keep the other customers hiding behind their menus, Lingmeng turned her attention back to Tohka.

If Shido had seen the two customers' faces, he would have cried out in surprise.

They were none other than his younger sister, Kotori Itsuka, and Ratatoskr's analyst, Reine Murasame!

Shido's Wallet Crisis

"Hey, Reine, am I seeing things? Is my big brother on a date at a restaurant with two girls?"

Kotori stared at Shido in disbelief.

Kotori had meant to go to school that day, but perhaps because Tohka's Spacequake yesterday had affected her school too, she found that her classes had also been canceled.

Not wanting to waste the trip, Kotori invited Reine out for tea. She never expected to run into Shido there, much less with two beautiful girls.

If Shido had gotten a girlfriend and taken her on a date, Kotori would have had no problem with it. He had a duty to date Spirits and seal their powers, but whom he chose to be with was his own business. Kotori had no right to interfere.

What she hadn't expected was for Shido to go on a date with two beautiful girls without her knowing.

Even harder to believe, one of them was a Spirit—the very sort of being they called a disaster. Kotori could barely process it all.

"...Yeah, I see them too." Reine checked her phone. There were no messages from Ratatoskr.

That meant a Spirit might have manifested in this world without causing a Spacequake.

Of course, the girl might simply resemble Tohka. But if so, Shido had brought two ordinary girls out for fun without Ratatoskr's help.

It was a cruel thought, perhaps, but Shido taking girls out seemed even less likely than a Spirit manifesting unnoticed.

"...I see." Reine touched her chin. "...If that's really what happened, we have a problem. Can Little Shido win over a Spirit without Ratatoskr's help?"

"Hmm..." Kotori frowned. Then she switched to her black ribbons, entering Commander Mode, and picked up her phone to connect to Ratatoskr.

"...Yes, it's me. We have an emergency. Initiate Operation F-08, the Tenguu Holiday Plan. Get back to your stations as fast as you can!"

Reine's cheek twitched. Once Kotori finished, she asked,

"...Kotori, what are you planning to do?"

"What choice do we have? I'll negotiate with the restaurant as quickly as I can." Kotori put a Chupa Chups in her mouth and flashed a confident smile.

"Now, let our war—our date—begin!"

"Oh, well. If they don't have Kinako Bread, they don't have it. I'll try some new flavors."

Tohka spread her hands with a resigned sigh.

"Sure, pick whatever you want!" Lingmeng smiled at her, then murmured, "I'm not the one paying, anyway."

"Lingmeng, are you treating me like a meal ticket? I didn't bring much money today."

Shido seemed to have heard her. He looked distinctly uneasy.

Lingmeng merely patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Shido! There's no way two girls can eat that much."

"...Is that so?" Shido muttered, unconvinced.

"Right, let's see what they have." Lingmeng picked up a menu, but Tohka's voice cut her off.

"I'll have this, and this, and this...and this one too. Is that all right?"

Tohka rattled off her order to a server who had appeared beside them, her eyes shining.

"Certainly." The server wrote down Tohka's choices in a notebook.

"...Lingmeng, didn't you say you girls couldn't eat that much?"

Shido stared at the dozen or so dishes Tohka had ordered, sweating.

"Uh...forget I said that. More importantly, did you bring enough money?"

Lingmeng looked just as embarrassed.

"If I only pay for Tohka's food, I should just about have enough."

"I see..." Lingmeng muttered to herself, then turned to the server. "Please make everything you wrote down. And..."

"And?" the server asked.

"Um...could the two of us each have a glass of plain water?"

Lingmeng scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"Of course." The server headed to the back.

"Sorry, Lingmeng. If I'd known this would happen, I'd have brought more money." Shido looked at her apologetically.

"It's fine, really. I don't mind something this small." Lingmeng waved it off.

"Mm...thanks for understanding..." Shido fell silent.

Before long, servers came out carrying plate after plate and set them before Tohka. The spread of sumptuous dishes made a stark contrast with the glasses of water in front of Shido and Lingmeng.

"Ooh, these all look delicious." Tohka took a bite with her fork. Her eyes widened, and she began eating faster and faster until she could no longer stop.

"This is incredible! I can't believe humans get to eat food this delicious every day. They're so lucky!"

As she spoke, the dishes before her vanished at astonishing speed. Before long, Tohka had finished every last one, leaving Shido and Lingmeng speechless.

How can she eat so much? Shido and Lingmeng both wondered.

"Ahh, that hit the spot!" Tohka rubbed her stomach and let out a small burp.

"As long as you're happy..." Shido managed a strained smile. Inside, his heart was bleeding; Tohka had eaten his wallet empty.

"All right, Tohka, let's go." Shido stood, ready to leave.

"Hm? We're leaving already?"

"Yep. Shido's nearly bankrupt!" Lingmeng shot him a teasing look.

Shido gave an awkward cough and went to the register to pay.

"I'd like to pay." He set three bills on the counter, nearly all the cash he had on him.

As he raised his head to speak, he frowned and took a step back.

Because the cashier in front of him was...

"...That'll be three thousand yen."

It was a woman he had met before, with dark circles beneath her glasses and a perpetually sleepy expression—Ratatoskr's analyst, Reine Murasame.

"Wh-wh-wh-what..."

"What is it, Shido? An enemy?"

Seeing Shido panic, Tohka turned toward him with a chilling expression.

"What's wrong?" Lingmeng stepped beside Shido and recognized the cashier as the customer from the table across from them. "Weren't you sitting across from us earlier? I didn't realize you worked here."

She sounded surprised.

"...Yes. I was on break. My shift started, so I changed and got to work."

Reine nodded, answering Lingmeng without the slightest hint of panic, as though she really were a restaurant employee.

"...Lingmeng, what do you mean she was sitting across from us?"

Shido's face darkened.

"Oh, you didn't notice? She was across from us the whole time."

"I see..." Shido muttered with a nervous sweat. Had Ratatoskr been watching him from the moment he came in?

Aloof Tohka Becomes Airheaded Tohka

"...Here's your change and receipt."

Reine wore a cute uniform with a little bear perched on her shoulder. Her drowsy eyes suddenly flashed as she shot Shido a sharp look, startling him badly.

For a moment, Shido thought her piercing stare meant, If you tell anyone I'm working here, I'll kill you.