"Hey, hey, what are you guys even doing? Why is it that the moment I come back you drag me off to get examined? Don't tell me you're thinking up some weird ideas again." As soon as she was teleported up, Tohka saw that Reine Muramatsu was already waiting for her, but the way this woman looked at her was like she was staring at some rare animal.
Just moments ago, before the armored girls could arrive, Tohka and Kurumi Tokisaki had withdrawn at the same time. As for those AST girls, they were unlucky and completely missed them, circling helplessly in the sky before retreating.
"It's nothing. I'm just very curious about your condition. You actually managed to freely switch into your inverse form and even let both of you appear at the same time." At that, Reine Muramatsu spoke with obvious astonishment.
"Hey, hey, you're actually saying that out loud? Aren't you worried someone will overhear? You realize there are surveillance devices everywhere here, right? Or are you planning to announce your identity to everyone?" Hearing her, Tohka couldn't help but retort. This woman's voice was so loud she'd heard every word perfectly clearly.
"It doesn't matter. No one will hear." Reine shrugged indifferently, then said to Tohka, "Come with me. You'd better have your body checked out."
"Hey, hey, are you trying to dissect me or something?" Seeing the look in Reine's eyes, Tohka instinctively covered her shoulders. There was something unsettling in her gaze, and being stared at like that made Tohka's skin crawl.
"Relax. Our whole organization was established to help Spirits. And even if I really did want to experiment on you, I doubt Shido would agree." Glancing at Tohka, who was hugging herself and staring like she'd seen a horror movie, Reine spoke flatly. Then she opened the door and, swaying slightly, led the way to the examination room.
"Meaning you wouldn't mind doing research anyway...so what exactly is going on in your head?" With a snarky line, Tohka followed. She knew Reine wouldn't actually do anything. Even setting aside whether they could restrain her, if they tried something she'd immediately retract her power. What happened to Shido's body without her abilities was none of her business.
"Truly remarkable. We couldn't detect a single anomaly in your body. By the way, who was that woman anyway? She looked just like you, and even her energy signature was nearly identical." Just as Tohka was putting her clothes back on after stepping off the machine, she heard Kyouhei Kannazuki's voice sounding amazed.
"Hey, hey, what did you find? Don't leave me hanging—just say it already." Tohka was genuinely curious about her own condition. Back in the Marvel world, they didn't have any equipment to analyze Spirits. No matter how they examined her, she was indistinguishable from an ordinary girl. That was why no one had ever accused her of being a mutant—she didn't have even a trace of X-gene.
"Your spirit foundation is extremely stable, and so far, you haven't had even one instance of spirit power backlash. That alone would be noteworthy, but given the power you've displayed, you should be overflowing with spirit energy. Yet we can't locate any spirit nodes. Even when you've sealed your power, you still have an extraordinary vitality. That means your regenerative ability is at least on par with our current commander." For once, Kannazuki was being perfectly reliable. He calmly relayed the findings.
"Mm. Got it." Tohka nodded and didn't say anything else. Even the equipment here couldn't detect much, and there was no point sticking around. She glanced at the report briefly, but all the numbers were gibberish to her, so she had no interest in reading further.
"By the way, you may have spent today playing around, but I hope you'll still come by tomorrow. Shido wants to go on a date, so could you look after Yoshino for us?" At that moment, Kannazuki added casually.
"I hear you. Really—what do you all take me for?" Tohka waved dismissively, indicating she understood. It wasn't a big deal, as long as they didn't make her go to school. Back in the Marvel world she'd been in her third year of high school. But after coming here, she'd become a second-year again. She was really fed up. She'd been a college student, then got downgraded to high school senior, and now she was effectively demoted again. Everyone else was advancing—she alone kept dropping grades.
"Looks like that girl has plenty of secrets. Honestly—are all Spirits like this?" Kannazuki sighed as he watched Tohka leaving.
"Mm, indeed." Reine nodded. They could both tell she didn't want to talk about it, so they didn't press her. All she cared about was getting Tohka to seal her power into Shido's body; everything else was irrelevant. After all, if they provoked her, everything would go up in smoke.
"....."
Just like that, Tohka wandered back to the teleportation chamber. A flash of light later, she found herself standing on a city street. No one around her seemed to notice her sudden arrival.
"This is a shop that sells women's swimsuits...those guys...oh, so that's where he is." She glanced around and spotted Shido inside shopping. Kotori was there too. As for Yoshino, she didn't see her, but she figured the girl was probably nearby.
"Ah, you're here, Tohka. So—um—how's your other self?" Shido noticed her walking in and greeted her with forced cheer. Even so, Tohka could see his face was completely red.
"Oh my, what kind of place is this for you to be in?" Looking around, Tohka saw lots of women trying on swimsuits. But Shido was the only guy. There wasn't any "no men allowed" sign, but every woman's gaze instantly zeroed in on him.
"My, my—so you're not only a perverted lolicon but also shameless enough to come here without batting an eye." She gave him a bright smile. Once again, she couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Please don't say that—I didn't want to be here! I was tricked into coming! I swear!" Shido flailed in a panic, trying to explain himself. He really hadn't wanted to set foot in this place. If those guys hadn't insisted, he would have run as far away as possible.
"Onii-chan, how does this look?" At that moment, Kotori's voice came from the fitting room. She stepped out, white ribbons in her hair, wearing a pure white swimsuit. Tohka didn't even want to comment on how revealing it was.
"Uh—uh—it looks great, really great," Shido stammered, praising her in desperation.
"And you—what are you doing here?" Kotori finally noticed Tohka and immediately slipped on a black scarf. She gave her a serious look.
"I've heard some things. What's going on—why are there two of you? Also, the one who blasted me away the other day...that was the other you, wasn't it?" She twirled her lollipop, scrutinizing Tohka like she wanted to see through her.
"Wow, you sure switched gears fast." Tohka rolled her eyes, but she still answered. "That's none of your business. I've already sealed my power into this guy, so don't worry about anything else."
"Clack." Before Kotori could reply, Origami suddenly walked in. She'd come here intending to cause trouble—Tohka had clearly seen her among the AST squad earlier. But the moment she spotted Kotori, her gaze, filled with killing intent, locked onto her instead. Even so, she had enough sense not to charge in directly.
"Hmph." She knew her usual equipment was useless against Kotori. With a cold snort, she turned and walked out.
"Wait—Origami, listen—it's not what you think! I really didn't want to come here!" Apparently Shido had misunderstood, because he bolted after her. As for Tohka, after exchanging a blank stare with Kotori, she turned to pick out her own swimsuit. Yoshino's whereabouts didn't concern her at all.
"Mm, this one will do." Soon she found what she wanted. Influenced by her previous life—and not wanting to give anyone a free show—she chose something with plenty of coverage. She took it into a fitting room and tried it on.
"Why does this look so familiar? Wait—this is exactly the one original Tohka picked at first." When she stepped out, she realized the suit matched the one canon Tohka had chosen.
"Whatever, I'll stick with it." Blushing because it was her first time in such attire, she went back into the fitting room, changed back into her usual clothes, and carried the swimsuit up to the counter. It was funny—she'd been to Tony's outrageous parties but never worn anything like this herself.
"Alright, I'm heading off. Whether that guy comes back or not is your problem. Best of luck." She gave Kotori a cheerful wave and walked out.
"Hey—what's with that look? Why do I feel like you were offering condolences? What's that supposed to mean?" Kotori frowned, baffled.
"Hehehe—secret." Like she'd ever tell her that Origami was probably plotting how to chop her up. If she did, Shido would risk his life to interfere, and she'd miss out on the fun. Besides, Kotori had excellent regeneration—she wasn't worried.
"Completely incomprehensible." Kotori watched Tohka's mysterious smile in confusion. Why did she look so sympathetic all of a sudden?
"Sigh—what a busy day. Looks like my other self-burned through more energy than I thought. She went straight into hibernation when I got back." Returning home, Tohka surveyed her room, now a little messy from her inverse self's antics. She didn't bother cleaning it. Instead, she sank into her mindscape to check on her other self.
Sure enough, she found the Inverse Tohka dozing on the black throne, her expression exhausted. This time, she wasn't just sleeping out of boredom.
"Honestly—you just wanted to spend time with me that badly?" Tohka knew she'd only forced herself out today partly to play, but partly just to keep her company. With Miku away, she didn't have any real friends. Kurumi came and went unpredictably, and talking to her was always a gamble. As for Kotori and the others, they were only casual friends, not confidants.
Apparently, her inverse self-had noticed and insisted on sharing a day together. Otherwise, with how much energy she'd used, she'd have retreated long ago.
After watching her sleep for a moment, Tohka withdrew from her mindscape. She tidied up the room a little and then lay down herself. Being woken up at dawn, dragged around all day, and constantly worrying about her inverse self's complete lack of social awareness—she was truly exhausted.