Inside the endless, pitch-black space, it was so dark you couldn't see your own hand. It felt like nothing in the world existed anymore; everything was completely still.
A darkness as big as the ocean; besides that, nothing else could be felt.
This was the world inside Tokisaki Kurumi's shadow. If a normal person ca in here, even if Kurumi left them alone, it wouldn't take long for the fear of this darkness to swallow them up and make them lose their minds.
However, Ryougi Yutsuki clearly didn't care much about this place.
Looking around, Shido and Miku weren't here. It looked like Kurumi used the shadow to make a separate room for Shido and Miku to talk one on one. Just from this, Kurumi's power was actually really handy.
"Hey! Can you answer a few of my questions?"
After Kurumi brought her into the shadow, Yutsuki stopped acting. She crossed her arms and looked at Kurumi with a very unhappy face.
"Hehe~ Of course, I'd love to. Yutsuki-san's acting just now was truly great. I was about to admire it, to praise it."
Kurumi lifted her frilly skirt a little and did a polite bow. A charming smile appeared on her face, which was so beautiful it almost looked fake.
"Stop kissing up to and get straight to the point. I have a ton of questions right now!"
Yutsuki clearly wasn't buying it and rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"Ara ara~ Yutsuki-san is surprisingly impatient."
"None of your business. What I want to ask right now is, what happened to Tohka?!"
Yutsuki felt sothing was wrong the mont Shido ca in.
Normally, even if you put a ton of kinako bread in front of Tohka, she would definitely choose to follow Shido (even though she would look super reluctant). Also, even though Shido looked pretty calm, Yutsuki still felt a little bit of worry and panic from him.
Could it be...
"Haha~ Just as I'd expect from Yutsuki-san, noticing it so fast. Tohka-san was caught by a DEM wizard and is in big trouble right now."
Hearing her guess co true, Yutsuki rub her finger on her forehead, looking helpless.
To be honest, Tohka's situation was a complete surprise for Yutsuki.
The original plan was that after Miku broke her promise and went crazy, Yutsuki would pretend to be controlled. Kurumi would help by taking Shido away from the scene and looking into Izayoi Miku's past.
But surprisingly, because Tohka had earphones in both ears, she successfully dodged Miku's mind control. Kurumi, who was going to step in, was afraid of making Tohka misunderstand and react badly, so she didn't co out.
At first, Yutsuki didn't care. After all, having one more person to protect Shido was a good thing. Even Yutsuki couldn't promise the plan would go exactly as she wanted.
She went into the shadow on purpose to hear what Shido's group had found out. But she didn't expect that right from the start, she would hear the shocking news of Tohka getting caught by DEM.
"By the way, since you were watching nearby, why didn't you save Tohka?"
"That is a really unfair thing to ask, Yutsuki-san. 'I' am just a clone. Against that wizard, just saving Shido-san took all my power."
"You haven't changed your ways at all..."
Kurumi's clones were made by her Angel Zafkiel using past versions of herself. Even though they looked and acted exactly like Tokisaki Kurumi, the ti—which ant power—given to a clone made it only a little stronger than a normal AST mber.
But the good thing was, Kurumi never had to worry about dying for real.
Yutsuki couldn't complain about Kurumi's thod. They just had a deal to help each other. Kurumi didn't have to risk her life to save anyone.
"Let think... A DEM wizard who can beat and catch Tohka, who was wearing part of her Astral Dress. Besides Mana, who already left DEM, the other person overseas seems to still be in testing... Does that an, Ellen?"
After thinking for a mont, Yutsuki got a basic idea of what was going on.
"I guessed wrong... I thought with such bad injuries, even using Realizer technology, she would have to lie in a hospital bed for a month or two."
In this world, Realizers pushed forward major changes in most technologies, and health care was one of them. Even if an arm was cut off, it could easily be put back on the next day.
But, it only went that far. In Ellen's fight against Shido and Yutsuki, most of her wounds hit important organs. Thinking about fixing organs and healing, this was clearly way too fast to be normal.
(Looking at the situation, either Ellen got a miracle, or DEM hid a secret trick... Either way, things are not looking good right now.)
First, the problem with Miku still wasn't solved, and DEM had started a secret plan.
Just looking at how urgent things were, saving Tohka was definitely the top priority. But if they left Miku alone, she might bring the controlled Spirits to get in their way. When that ti ca, even with her and Kurumi, and Kotori from Ratatoskr helping Shido, they wouldn't be able to do anything.
Also, on Miku's side, whether they had what it took to conquer Izayoi Miku was still a big question mark.
(I really don't know if Tohka got caught in the original storyline too, or how Miku was conquered. Ah... If I had known, I should have been patient and finished watching the original story and ani back then. You only regret reading too little when you actually need it!)
Even though she was complaining, Yutsuki also knew that the chance of her finishing this harem ani and rembering it back then was absolutely zero.
"This is really... a bit hard to deal with."
With a small, dry smile, Yutsuki scratched her hair and said sothing she rarely said.
"My, my, what an ugly face~ Yutsuki-san. Could it be that you are troubled? That makes so happy, so excited!"
Kurumi showed a an but playful smile. To be honest, Kurumi felt that seeing Ryougi Yutsuki with a headache was just as fun as teasing Shido.
"I'm telling you..."
Giving Kurumi a helpless look, Yutsuki gave up on trying to argue with her.
Anyway, it was better to sort out what they could do first.
Taking a deep breath, Yutsuki tried to calm herself down as much as possible. After sorting out the situation, she slowly spoke.
"So... knowing Shido's personality, right now his mind must be super anxious to go save Tohka. Having him talk with Miku ans he plans to convince Miku to stop chasing him for now, until the problem is fixed. And then they'll settle things!"
"Hehe, just as expected from Yutsuki-san, talking to you is so easy~..."
Just halfway through her sentence, Kurumi seed to notice sothing, and a little bit of surprise showed on her face.
"This is really unexpected. Shido-san actually wants to convince Miku-san to join us in saving Tohka and the others."
"Asking for help from soone who wanted to kill him just an hour ago, Shido-san really has so crazy guts."
Hearing this, Yutsuki also felt a bit surprised, but she let out a helpless, dry smile like she understood.
After all, Itsuka Shido was just that kind of person.
He didn't want to see the Spirits look hopeless, and he wanted them to live normal lives. And for that, he would put himself last.
Because she knew this for sure, Yutsuki chose to accept him.
"But it looks like he failed to convince her..."
Kurumi, showing she was watching the other side, tilted her head and said with a bit of pity.
"...Well, we saw that coming."
After all, they barely have ti to kill you, why would they help you?
Gently pressing her temples and thinking for a mont, Yutsuki said.
"I will stay undercover for a little longer and try to slow Miku down as much as I can. You use this chance to take Shido to save Tohka. Also, try to convince Miku to help Shido along the way. When the ti is right, I will go et up with you guys... and I'll go with you to see if the second Spirit to ever appear in the world is really there."
Hearing Yutsuki's answer, Kurumi smiled.
"Hehe~ Got it! Then, we don't have much ti left, so let's stop here."
After a light chuckle, the feeling holding her down disappeared. It felt like a bubble floating up to the top of the water. Yutsuki knew she was about to be sent back to the stage in Tengu City.
"Oh right, I forgot to ask. You guys were out for so long, don't tell you didn't do anything at all!"
Right before floating up, Yutsuki asked Kurumi with a very aningful smile.
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