October 15th, Sunday.
Yesterday, Yutsuki, Kotori, and Shido discussed the idea that Tohka and the others were all turned into Spirits by Phantom. But right now, they didn't have any proof. If they just said it out loud, it might cause unnecessary stress for Tohka and the others, so Kotori asked everyone there to keep it a secret.
At this mont, Yutsuki was doing her usual month routine. She was standing at the manga section in a bookstore, reading the newest issue of a manga magazine.
"The new female lead thinks the male lead saw her secret, so she decides to kill him to keep him quiet... I see, this cliffhanger is designed pretty well."
Yutsuki happily flipped through the newest chapter, excited to see what the male lead actually saw in the smoke. But when she turned to the next page, there was a ssage saying "Please look forward to the next issue." She clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"...Looks like I have to wait until next month."
Sighing helplessly, Yutsuki grabbed a book and brought it to the checkout counter, leaving the store clerk looking totally shocked.
"Um... are you sure you want to buy this?"
Hearing the clerk's confused voice, Yutsuki felt a bit speechless.
"Is this store only for looking and not for buying?"
Well, Yutsuki could understand why the clerk acted like that. After all, she usually just read books for free and then left.
"O-Of course not! It's the exact opposite!"
The clerk shook his head quickly. As if afraid Yutsuki would change her mind, he quickly took the book and scanned the barcode.
"340 yen, thank you for your purchase."
After paying the clerk, Yutsuki took her shopping bag and left the bookstore. She ran towards Shido, who was waiting by the door.
"Sorry, Shido. We ca out to buy ingredients for dinner, but I made you wait here for ."
Yutsuki put her hands together to apologize.
"It's fine, I didn't wait that long anyway."
Shido waved his hand to show he didn't mind.
"But why didn't you co inside with , Shido? Weren't there any books you wanted to read?"
"No, I'm good..."
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Shido smiled bitterly and shook his head. The reason Yutsuki could read books for free without getting kicked out was because she was a cute girl, so the owner couldn't bring himself to get mad. If he went inside too, he would definitely be pierced by the owner's deadly glare.
"Hm?"
Yutsuki tilted her head in confusion. She clearly didn't realize this problem; in fact, she had no self-awareness about it at all.
Sighing with mixed feelings, Shido changed the subject.
"By the way, what book did you buy?"
"Ah, it's a cooking book."
Hearing Shido's question, Yutsuki smiled excitedly and handed the bag to Shido.
Greedy! 10 Ways to Make Pumpkin Dishes
"You like pumpkin, Yutsuki?"
"It's mostly because, you see, in about two weeks, it's going to be Halloween, right?"
"Well, that's true."
Walking down the street, Shido looked around. The shopping district was already starting to feel like Halloween. Decorative pumpkins and costus for families were already being sold in stores.
"Actually, just this morning I already talked to Kaguya and the others. On Halloween day, everyone is going to throw a Halloween party to celebrate properly. And I'm in charge of making the pumpkin dishes for the party."
Yutsuki scratched her cheek and said, feeling a little embarrassed.
In her past life, Yutsuki didn't really celebrate Halloween. First, it wasn't a very popular holiday back in China. Second, she wasn't interested in those social parties thrown just because of a holiday. Third, and most importantly, since she didn't have any family, rather than celebrating Halloween alone and lonely in her apartnt, it was better to watch the newest ani and grind for items in gas.
Of course, things were different now. Thanks to Yutsuki's idea, which everyone fully supported, they decided to throw a big party together on Halloween.
And since it was her idea, Yutsuki gladly took charge of the cooking.
"I see. Celebrating Halloween together is a really great idea."
Shido nodded, fully understanding.
"Right, right!?"
Seeing Shido agree with her idea, Yutsuki smiled happily.
"Then, after we get back, let's try making this pumpkin pie first. This pumpkin soup looks good too... And Tohka and Kaguya seed to really like this golden pumpkin croquette."
Taking a quick look at the pictures on the cover, Yutsuki looked eager to try and pumped her fist with energy.
"Do you need my help?"
"Of course. With Tohka's stomach, I don't have the confidence to survive doing it all alone. Even if you don't want to, I'll drag you in to help ."
"You're ruthless!"
Yutsuki and Shido looked at each other and both burst into happy laughter.
"Um... is it okay if I bother you for a second?"
Suddenly, an older foreign man in a wheelchair, looking to be around fifty, called out to Yutsuki and Shido. With him was a woman in her mid-twenties pushing the wheelchair.
"...!"
When Yutsuki saw these two people, she seed to rember sothing, and her eyes widened slightly.
"Excuse , could you tell where the hospital is?"
The man asked in perfect Japanese.
"The hospital... go through the shopping district, turn left at the intersection, then turn right at the third traffic light and keep going straight. You'll see it."
After Shido gave the directions, the man gently shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I still don't quite get it. If it's not too much trouble, could you take there?"
"Um... sure, no problem."
Although they needed to go buy things, it wasn't very far. Shido gave Yutsuki a questioning look. Yutsuki nodded, showing she didn't mind.
"Thank you so much. Japanese people are so kind."
"No, it's really nothing."
"Ah, right. My na is Baldwin, and this is Karen."
"Nice to et you."
The man—Baldwin—pointed to the woman pushing the wheelchair. She replied softly and kept pushing the chair quietly. However, with her light ash blonde hair and clear purple eyes, even though it was their first ti eting, Shido felt like he had seen her sowhere before.
Since the other person had introduced himself, Shido quickly did the sa.
"Um, my na is Itsuka Shido."
"...I am Ryougi Yutsuki."
Hearing their nas, Baldwin gave a very touched smile.
"Yes, to et such a wonderful couple in a foreign country, I really must thank God."
""Pfft—!""
Yutsuki and Shido both sputtered at the sa ti. The difference was that Shido was shocked, while Yutsuki looked more like she was laughing out loud.
"Haha!Baldwin-san, you sure know how to joke! Shido and I aren't a couple. You should know that besides , this guy has several other cute girls who like him. He's a sinful playboy."
"Although I can't really argue with that in a lot of ways... there's no need to roast this badly in front of soone we just t."
Shido complained quietly, feeling a bit upset. He didn't understand why Yutsuki suddenly said sothing so blunt to soone they just t. But more than that, Yutsuki denying the question without any hesitation hurt his feelings a little.
"I see."
Whether he didn't take Yutsuki's words seriously or just didn't mind, Baldwin's expression didn't change. He just tilted his head and said, slightly confused, "But to , you and this boy nad Shido seem to get along very well."
To this, Yutsuki shrugged and gave a soft smile.
"Well, putting all of that aside. He is my most important family."
"—!"
"Shido?"
"Nothing..."
Hit by an unexpected straight answer, Shido felt his face turn as red as a boiled lobster. Feeling Yutsuki looking at him, he quickly turned his head away.
Wooooooooo—!
Suddenly, a loud, sharp alarm rang out from the speakers in the shopping district. Shido and Yutsuki's faces instantly changed.
After a whole month, a new Spirit had appeared.
"Um,Baldwin-san. It's very dangerous here, please go to the shelter quickly."
Baldwin nodded, showing he understood.
"Alright, I will. But what about you?"
"Eh? I-I um, still have sothing I need to do..."
Seeing Shido suddenly struggling to find words, Baldwin shrugged and laughed.
"Haha, sorry for putting you on the spot. Although I have a lot of questions I want to ask, I'll just say this for now—Please do your best. I'm leaving the Spirits to you."
"Eh...?"
Hearing Baldwin's words, Shido was completely stunned. Yutsuki sighed helplessly and said.
"Shido, you go take care of your business. I'll take Baldwin-san to the shelter."
"Oh..."
Although he was confused as to why Yutsuki wasn't surprised at all, since dealing with the Spirit was the priority, Shido put the earpiece from his pocket into his right ear to contact the ship, while Yutsuki took Baldwin and Karen to the air-raid shelter.
Among the known unsealed Spirits, Kurumi didn't need to cause a spacequake, and the other Spirit was locked up by DEM in an unknown location. If they assud no completely new Spirit had shown up, they could guess who this Spirit was through process of elimination.
"Witch, huh... In a way, she's a Spirit that really fits the Halloween season."
Yutsuki comnted quietly, looking a bit relieved. After all, just like Yutsuki, Witch was very rarely aggressive towards humans. Besides her habit of changing the shape of objects to temporarily turn attacking Wizards into stuffed toys or animals, there was nothing particularly dangerous about her.
"Although I'm sure it's not as simple as it looks on the surface... Well, with Kotori there, Shido definitely won't lose his life."
She was a bit curious about what was happening at the scene, but Yutsuki had already made her stance clear to Kotori. Until it was proven that the Spirit truly needed to be sealed, Yutsuki didn't plan on helping Shido conquer them.
Actually, she had only done the job once before quitting right away.
Yutsuki shrugged, laughing at herself in her mind.
"Yutsuki-san, when did you et that boy nad Shido?"
On the way to the shelter, Baldwin asked Yutsuki, almost as if just passing the ti.
"Well... about two months ago. It was right around the start of sumr vacation in August."
"That's a surprise. From the way you act, I thought you two had known each other for a long ti."
Baldwin's eyes widened in surprise, looking very impressed.
"It must have been a wonderful, fated eting."
"Well—I think it was more like bad luck."
Thinking back to the first and second tis she t Shido, the corners of Yutsuki's mouth twitched.
The first ti was when she was playing a ga to pass the ti while a spacequake was happening, and Shido caught her. The second ti was when she was hacking an ATM and Shido caught her red-handed amidst raining cash. To call that a beautiful eting... Yutsuki herself found it laughable.
"Oh... That's a very curious way to put it."
Seeing that Baldwin didn't plan on stopping his questions, Yutsuki sighed helplessly.
"Geez. If the leader of Ratatoskr is wandering around the streets without any guards, Kotori is probably going crazy with worry right now."
Hearing Yutsuki point out his real identity, Baldwin was stunned for a mont, then smiled bitterly and scratched his head.
"Uh... that's quite a failure on my part. I always thought my face was pretty average."
"Even if that's true, it would only be by Western standards. Besides, I have the files of everyone in Ratatoskr."
Yutsuki said with a sigh.
"I see.Hacker truly lives up to her na."
Baldwin nodded in understanding, an impressed look on his face.
Yutsuki quietly observed the man in front of her, the other founder of the Realizer technology. Normally, if soone found out everything about your organization, you would instinctively see them as an enemy. But this man didn't seem to care and kept chatting with her.
Although they were completely different types of people, this older man in the wheelchair, just like Westcott, is a really big deal. Yutsuki thought to herself.
"Well, since my cover is blown, I guess it's my own bad luck. But if I may be so bold, could I ask you one question,Yutsuki-san?"
"Go ahead."
Baldwin took a slow breath and asked.
"Yutsuki-san,are you happy right now?"
Ugh—For a second, Yutsuki thought he was going to ask so serious question and felt a bit nervous, but her expression instantly turned strange.
However, seeing his serious face, Yutsuki was quiet for a mont, then calmly shook her head.
"Happy... I wouldn't go that far. After all, I don't think living an everyday life where everyone could be put in danger at any mont can be called true happiness."
"Is that so..."
Baldwin said, sounding a bit sad. Karen didn't say anything, but she looked at Yutsuki with so displeasure.
However, Yutsuki continued speaking.
"But, I have never once regretted the life I have now."
Suddenly, to their surprise, she gave a small bow to the man in the wheelchair.
"Thank you for giving the chance to et Shido and have a place to belong."
————————————————————
"Was that okay?"
Looking at the girl who had left after bringing them to the shelter, Karen asked quietly.
"Yes... An answer without any lies. That's more than enough."
Baldwin nodded gently with a bright smile on his face.
"Then—is there anything unusual with Tohka and Shido?"
"I went to Itsuka Shido's house earlier to check, and there are no problems right now. They are in a very stable state."
Even before knocking on the door, she could hear a girl happily singing a song about cooking pumpkins—who knows where she learned it. Seeing the girl so full of energy, Karen felt there was absolutely no need to worry.
"I see, that's wonderful."
Hearing Karen's words, Baldwin finally relaxed.
Last month, the Spirit Tohka experienced an Inversion and the boy had used multiple Angels. Although he had already received the checkup reports, he couldn't feel at ease without coming to see for himself.
"But the fact that I was so worried I had to rush over here just proves that what Yutsuki-san said is true. Just because of this, this so-called happiness is incredibly fragile."
Baldwin gave a self-deprecating laugh and shook his head.
"Then, what about Yutsuki's proposal to train Itsuka Shido?"
Karen asked.
"Accept it! Those other old n have always been afraid that once Shido masters the Spirits' powers, he'll beco uncontrollable. Tell Commander Itsuka that I will take full responsibility for everything."
With that girl around, Baldwin believed that Itsuka Shido would not lose his way because of power.
After letting out a deep breath, he—Elliot Baldwin Woodman—smiled.
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