It was August. Needless to say, this was the period of high school sumr vacation. Although she was under suspension, Origami still had AST basic training to attend, so it was not as though she could see Shido every single day.
Therefore, this girl, who had originally decided that she would go see Shido whenever it was a day off—today, however, Shido was not at ho.
Using her girl's intuition, faint electromagnetic waves searched for Shido's location, and the result showed that Shido was on the coastline far away from Tengu City. (Yutsuki: "...")
Although it seed unlikely, Origami hurriedly prepared her luggage just in case and used all kinds of transportation thods to head toward the direction indicated by her girl's intuition.
However—what welcod her instead was extrely strict security.
"..."
To confirm things, she took out her phone, found Shido's number in her contacts, and called him.
But Shido did not answer. After it rang a few tis, it even went to voicemail.
"......"
Origami wordlessly hung up the phone, while in her mind, she kept imagining all sorts of dangerous scenes.
More specifically, it was the image of Shido with both hands and feet tied to a chair, and the detestable Yatogami Tohka wearing a black bondage outfit like an evil organization's female executive.
"Uu, waah! Even though I'm very unwilling, I was still forcibly dragged here by Tohka."
"Kukuku. Shido. From today onward, you will forever beco my slave."
"O-Origami would… Origami would definitely co save !"
"Useless! My subordinates are all lying in ambush in the forest! That girl is impossible to reach this place! Fufufu, quickly forget about that kind of girl and enjoy yourself with ! Shido…"
"Noooo! I already have a lover… soone I'm going to spend my life with!"
"Fufufufu, relax… you'll forget her very soon."
"Stop! U, uwaaaaahhhhhhh!"
"......!"
Origami opened her eyes and began grinding her teeth in fury.
"Shido…!"
There were still many things she found strange, such as why Tohka would have such a huge private property, and just how she had managed to arrange such heavy security. But none of that mattered anymore.
Shido's chastity was in danger!
Origami glanced downward. Two n were searching the area below her in pairs.
"Honestly… an intruder? Is it really necessary to go out of our way to look for her?"
"Don't let your guard down. We'll get chewed out by the Commander if we do."
"Ugh, I don't want that. That's a hundred tis scarier than so intruder!"
The two n chatted casually while walking at an unhurried pace, showing not the slightest hint of vigilance.
Of course Origami would not miss this opportunity. Soundlessly, she leapt down from the tree and drove her knee viciously into the dulla oblongata of the man on the right.
"Guh…"
After a miserable cry, the man collapsed to the ground.
"You, you brat!"
The other man hurriedly raised an electric gun and pulled the trigger. A shower of sparks burst from the muzzle, illuminating the entire forest. Such a rushed shot obviously could not hit Origami. She nimbly closed in on the man's chest and drove a fierce kick into his sternum.
"Guuh!"
After taking down the two guards, Origami swiftly stripped them of their equipnt and then raised her head toward the direction her girl's intuition indicated.
—Shido, I will save you!
No matter what obstacles ca next, Origami would not retreat.
If a god stood in her way, then she would decide to slay the god itself!
.....
"I'm terribly sorry for causing everyone trouble."
Near evening, after returning to the inn, Yutsuki lowered her head in sha and apologized to everyone.
"Oh, co now. Such a small matter need not be minded. It is good as long as your body is unhard."
"Agreed. More important than anything is that you are safe and sound."
The Yamai sisters patted Yutsuki on the shoulders from beside her, comforting her.
"I'm sorry, Yutsuki-nee. I didn't consider the possibility that a Spirit might not be able to swim."
"This was not Kotori's fault. Rather…" At Kotori's apology, Yutsuki hurriedly shook her head, then stared blankly at the ceiling. "I forgot myself as well…"
Thinking back carefully, in her previous life, aside from work and attending doujin conventions, she had basically always been shut indoors. As for sports like swimming, aside from once, in second grade, when she went to a children's pool wearing a swim ring, she had never again entered water deeper than a bathtub.
With that sort of lifestyle, how could she possibly swim? Even Yutsuki herself did not believe it.
"I can't believe you even forgot that you can't swim. Yutsuki-chan is unexpectedly a natural airhead!"
-Stab!!
Yoshinon's one sentence was like a sharp blade, piercing straight through Yutsuki's heart and making her slump forward in despair.
"Y-Yoshinon… I'm sorry, Yutsuki-san… Yoshinon said sothing like that."
Yoshino hurriedly covered Yoshinon's mouth and bowed apologetically.
"It's fine… actually, being a natural airhead is kind of nice… like Tohka, who also looks airheaded and adorable."
Yutsuki gave herself a pale, strained smile in self-comfort.
"Though I don't know what you're talking about, I sohow feel like what Yutsuki just said is vaguely a little irritating," Tohka said, frowning slightly.
"Alright, alright, as long as Yutsuki is okay. Let's hurry up and go take a bath," Shido said with a bitter smile, shifting the focus of the conversation.
Everyone nodded in agreent and began moving toward the large bath.
"Um… Reine-san, may I ask you sothing?"
Yutsuki quietly fell to the back of the group, tugged at Murasa Reine's sleeve, and asked with a bit of tension.
"What is it, Yutsuki?"
"Uh, well…" Yutsuki toyed with the hem of her yukata and lowered her head without speaking. After hesitating for a mont, she finally asked, "That… after I lost consciousness from drowning, who saved ?"
Although she had never learned to swim, Yutsuki still knew the most basic first-aid knowledge. Since water enters the body after drowning, the victim needs to be given air, and then the water inside the body must be expelled.
In other words, soone had given her artificial respiration. In a certain sense, that could also be called ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-kissing!
Who was it? Tohka? Kaguya? Yuzuru? Kotori?
...Or perhaps, Itsuka Shido?
—Thump thump thump!
(Why is this heart of yours so noisy! Do you want to really dig it out?!)
"Oh, about that." Seeing Yutsuki's cheeks faintly reddening, Reine raised an eyebrow, vaguely understanding what the girl was struggling and hoping for. (Yutsuki: "No! I-I'm not, not hoping.") However, after thinking for a mont, Reine still answered honestly. "At the ti, the one who pulled you up was Shido, and after that I used CPR to save you."
Well, that was perfectly normal. If Itsuka Shido had given her CPR in front of everyone, it would definitely have caused dissatisfaction among the Spirits. And Murasa Reine, though sleepy-looking and clearly suffering from a lack of rest, was also a beautiful woman with refined features and an excellent figure. In that sense, Yutsuki did not really lose anything.
"..."
But why was there a faint sense of disappointnt in her heart?
"I apologize. I thought female-to-female kissing was not a big deal, so I did it without considering your thoughts. Should I have let Shin do it instead?"
"N-no! This is fine!"
Yutsuki hurriedly waved her hands to deny it, but her heart felt bitter at Reine's words.
That's right. She was already female.
Although she had accepted that fact a long ti ago, at the mont soone pointed it out, she sohow felt as if she had just woken up from a dream.
Had her heart also begun to beco feminine along with the influence of her body?
Originally, Yutsuki had maintained the belief that since she had once been a boy, she could only treat girls as romantic targets. But after confirming that Itsuka Shido had stepped into the depths of her heart, her thoughts had seed to shift toward femininity in order to match Shido.
This was not Shido's fault either. Ryougi Yutsuki had to admit that Itsuka Shido's actions were practically enough to be called self-sacrificing kindness. Compared to the days in the past when she was hunted by humans, restricted in her actions, and constantly living rough and eating poorly wherever she could, this peaceful and happy life made her imnsely satisfied. Yutsuki had never once regretted having her spiritual power sealed.
(—It just… if my male self were to disappear just like that… that would be a bit of a pity.)
As Yutsuki was lanting this, suddenly, a "boom!" explosion sounded from outside the inn.
"Mm!?"
"Eek…"
"Ohhh—? What happened?"
Tohka, Yoshino, and Yoshinon shrank back in surprise.
"J-just now, that sound was…"
"...! Ah, that. It was fireworks! Fireworks. You don't need to worry about it!"
After Shido said that, Kotori's voice followed with sowhat unnatural panic.
However, that only excited Tohka and the others.
"Fireworks! Fireworks are that thing, right? The 'boom' followed by 'pop-pop-pop' one? I want to see them!"
"Hmph~ Those are the flowers of heaven blooming in the sky, are they not? To appear in the territory of this Dark Night King, how perfect. Let asure them."
"Interested. I would very much like to watch the fireworks."
"No way!"
Hearing that, Kotori hurriedly stopped them loudly.
"U-umm… what's wrong, Kotori? Why are you suddenly shouting so loudly…"
"...I'm sorry. I didn't an to startle you. —But, look, aren't we supposed to go take a bath now? Let's hurry on over!"
"Uu… uoh…"
(That said, I still haven't told Kotori that a transmitter was placed on Shido.)
Following the flustered and hurried Kotori, Yutsuki still gave up on saying it.
Then everyone reached the entrance to the bathhouse. Yutsuki, seemingly to change the mood, teased Shido.
"Shido, peeping may be a man's romance, but please restrain your desires a little."
"As if I would!" Shido retorted with a bitter smile.
"What? Shido, could it be that you have no interest in girls—"
"Absolutely not!"
"Co on, Yutsuki, this way!"
"Oh!"
At Tohka's urging, Yutsuki walked up to the won's bath entrance and looked at the red curtain marked with the characters "Won's Bath" in front of her. A bitter smile appeared on her lips.
She had originally thought she would be able to enjoy a feast for the eyes, but now… could it be that I won't feel anything at all instead?
Then Yutsuki entered the bath.
Three minutes later…
Like an arrow released from a bow, Yutsuki rushed out of the bathhouse at full speed. From the communal tissue box near the entrance, she pulled out several tissues and pressed them against the nosebleed gushing from her nose.
Well… it turned out her worries were a bit unnecessary.
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