Afternoon on a day off.
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Kotori had no sooner heard footsteps in the hallway than Miku was charging into the Itsuka living room.
“Aaah! It’s been aaages! But I never forgot any of you for a single secooond the whole time we were apart!”
“Eeep!” Natsumi jumped, tumbled off the sofa in a hurry, and hid behind it.
But Miku reacted to the quick-moving Natsumi like a cat discovering a mouse and lunged at her.
“Myeaaah!”
“Eeeah!”
Trapped in Miku’s (to put it nicely) passionate embrace, Natsumi kicked and flailed and groaned.
“Honestly.” The home’s master, Kotori, sighed. “You always make such a fuss. ‘The whole time we were apart’? We saw you yesterday.”
“Heh-heh! Hai han’t heave hoo hahone hike his.”
“…I have no idea what you said. Maybe you could take your face out of Natsumi’s belly?” Kotori said, rolling her eyes, and Miku lifted her face, satisfied.
“Pwaaah! I am rechaaarged! Refreshed, the day’s exhaustion gone!”
✦ ✦ ✦
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Kotori did feel like Miku’s skin was somehow even more dewy than before. In contrast, Natsumi, now with a large lipstick print on her stomach, was thoroughly desiccated. Attack! A vampire’s been spotted in the residential streets of Tengu!
Kotori shrugged in exasperation and let her gaze roam the living room.
The Spirits were all present. Tohka and Origami on the sofa, the Yamai sisters monopolizing the TV with video games, Yoshino nursing Natsumi after her life force had been sucked up by Miku, and Nia scratching her head as she faced her notebook at the table. From the look of it, she was having trouble with her manga storyboard.
Kotori hadn’t invited them all over, but perhaps her house was a comfortable place; they all naturally gathered here on days off.
Sound exploded from the TV. The Yamai sisters had apparently finished their contest.
“Aaah! So close! There! What?! Aah!”
“Victory. That was quite close, but Yuzuru has claimed victory. I have gained the right to trade lunch parts.”
“Hnnngh!”
They had apparently been betting. Kaguya beat the floor in frustration.
Kotori sighed as she spoke. “I’m not trying to butt in on your contest, but make sure you eat a balanced diet. You’ll get sick.”
She glanced up at the clock. Twelve. Just like the twins said, it was time for lunch.
“…Hmm?”
Once her thoughts reached this point, Kotori tilted her head. She felt like normally, a meal was laid out on the table by now. But lunch still wasn’t ready.
“Huh? That’s weird. I didn’t— Wait. Do I usually cook?” She furrowed her brow at the curious sensation.
“Is something the matter, Kotori?” Yoshino turned worried eyes on her as she rubbed Natsumi’s back.
“What? Oh, no. It’s nothing. I’m just getting hungry.” She changed the subject. “How about we order pizza?”
The eyes of the Yamai sisters immediately lit up.
“Really?! I request the feast of the phoenix!”
“Exposition. Kaguya says that teriyaki chicken pizza would be good.”
“Yes! That! Heh-heh! Pizza means no parts to trade! Too bad, huh, Yuzuru?”
“Negation. The right to trade remains in effect. I will trade my pizza crust for your pizza toppings.”
“The crust?!”
“Mercy. I will take pity, at least,” Yuzuru said in a deliberately gentle voice. “We shall get the fluffy pan crust rather than the crispy crust of which there is little to eat.”
“You’re inhuman!” Kaguya shrieked.
“Obvious. I am a Spirit.”
Well, this was Yuzuru. Once she had her fill of Kaguya being upset, she’d probably let her have some pizza with toppings on it. Kotori shrugged and pulled out her cell phone to call in the order.
“…?”
Again, she felt that something was off, and she looked toward Tohka on the sofa.
It wasn’t that Tohka was doing anything weird. She was simply sitting there with her arms crossed and a troubled look on her face.
That was unusual in and of itself, however. They were ordering pizza, and not only was Tohka not requesting her favorite toppings, but she also wasn’t even shouting for joy like usual.
“T-Tohka. You okay?” Kotori asked tentatively. “If you’re feeling sick, you can lie down.”
“…Mm?” A few seconds later, Tohka’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.”
“Thinking? You? Over pizza? …No, wait. I don’t mean it like that.” The rather rude words thoughtlessly spilled from Kotori’s mouth, and she hurried to correct herself.
Tohka didn’t seem to notice. Or rather, she seemed to have something concerning her more. All she did was groan quietly.
“Something going on?” Kotori asked. “I mean, you’re not usually so lost in thought.”
“Mm.” Tohka looked up at her. “It’s nothing serious, but I met a strange boy at school yesterday.”
“A strange boy?”
“Mm-hmm. There was this boy in our classroom, and he called out to me and Origami. But when I said we didn’t know him, he got this really sad look on his face and left.”
“What’s that about? Some kind of fanboy? That is pretty weird, but not something you need to spend all this time on—” Kotori had gotten that far when she stopped, and the ends of her eyebrows twitched up. She maybe had an idea about this boy.
“What’s the maaatter?” Miku asked curiously.
“Actually.” Kotori put a hand to her chin. “That reminds me, I ran into a similar guy yesterday. When I woke up, there was this stranger in the kitchen, making breakfast.”
“What?!” Miku cried, aghast. “A strange man in the kitchen?! Why, that’s a horror mooovie! A-are you all right, Kotori?!”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I chased him out right away. I asked Fraxinus to beef up the security, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem, but—”
“Ah!” Miku slapped her hands together.
Kotori jumped a little. “What? What’s going on, Miku?”
“A-actually, it happened to me, toooo! I got this phone call yesterday. And this strange man suddenly started speaking. I was so surprised, I hung uuup! I looked at the call history, and it said the call was from ‘Darling’! I don’t remember putting that contact in my phone at all. It’s sooo scary!”
The other Spirits also raised their eyebrows as they listened, like they were connecting some dots of their own.
“Hey, Yuzuru. Do you think it’s the same guy?”
“Recollection. We also met him. A boy came charging into our classroom before homeroom and passionately demanded, ‘You know who I am, right?!’ ”
“…Actually, he might have come to my place, too. I had just pulled an all-nighter, then this doofus comes ringing my doorbell. Annoyed the hell out of me, so I sent him packing.”
“Th-that reminds me. When Natsumi and I went out yesterday, this strange man spoke to us…”
“…Oh yeah. He did, there was that guy. And he followed us, too. Wonder what his deal is. He looked seriously upset,” Natsumi grumbled, rolling her eyes. In Yoshino’s embrace, she had finally recovered enough from Miku’s attack to speak again.