Chapter 30: Food Thieves

The day broke on the second day of the school trip. Shido had made his way to Akaru Beach on the northern part of Arubi Island. Gouged out of the territory in the spacequake thirty years ago, the beach carved out a striking arc in the ground. Tourist guidebooks dubbed it Crescent Moon Beach, which Shido thought was an impressive name. "..." He looked around the secluded beach, his eyes scanning the area for any signs of tourists. Surprisingly, there was not a soul in sight. It was to be expected, however. Reine had gone to great lengths to ensure their privacy, whisking him away in a rental car to a private stretch of Akaru Beach. It was a necessary precaution to avoid any interference from his classmates. "Haah... I wonder what they're up to right now," A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he reminisced about the earlier events of the day. He had seen Hikaru and Tohka fleeing from the cafeteria after devouring the entire class's breakfast without permission. He knew they were up to something when they kept glancing at each other with mischievous grins this morning, "Thank goodness I ate earlier," he chuckled softly as the memory played in his mind. "I hope I can join them soon, they appear to be having fun..." (...) Hikaru and Tohka dashed out of the cafeteria as quickly as they could, their arms full of plates and trays loaded with breakfast foods. They had managed to sneak in before anyone else and had been so hungry that they couldn't resist the temptation of the delicious-looking spread. As they made their escape, they could hear the angry shouts of their classmates echoing behind them. They were probably going to get in big trouble for this. "Quick, let's find a place to hide and eat all this!" Hikaru panted as they rounded a corner. Tohka nodded in agreement and they darted into an empty room, closing the door behind them. They quickly set out the food on a desk and began to dig in, laughing at their audacity. "This is so worth it," Tohka said between bites of toast. "Definitely," Hikaru agreed, savoring a forkful of eggs. The two sisters shared a moment of triumph, reveling in their daring feat. The world seemed to fade away as they savored the sweet taste of victory, their hearts pounding with the thrill of their breakfast adventure. But their moment of triumph was short-lived, as a knock on the door broke their reverie. Hikaru and Tohka froze, their eyes wide with panic as the door slowly creaked open, revealing their unwanted visitor. "OH, Hikaru-san, Tohka-san, I finally found you!" came the voice of a teacher. "We need you to come with us so we can--" "Run, Nee-san, run!" Hikaru urged, clutching her overstuffed belly as they sprinted towards the window. "What? Don't tell me you're planning to jump, it's the fifth floor! You'll get yourselves killed!" Tama shouted But their resolve was unwavering, as they leaped out of the window, defying gravity as they descended from the higher floors. "...!" Tamae, stunned and unable to comprehend their audacious escape, rushed to the window to catch a glimpse of her rebellious students. What she witnessed left her speechless. Hikaru and Tohka weaved through the campus, leaving a trail of chaos in their wake. They evaded the grasp of bewildered teachers, dodged obstacles with uncanny agility, and even managed to swipe a few snacks from unsuspecting students along the way. "How did they...?" Tamae trailed off (...) Hikaru and Tohka darted towards the beach, sand kicking up behind them as they made their way towards a large rock formation jutting out of the shoreline. They slid behind the rock, panting and gasping for breath, trying to steady their racing hearts. Leaning against the sturdy rock, Tohka let out a breathless sigh. "Phew, that was a close call," Hikaru, a mischievous gleam in her eyes, replied with a grin, "Yeah, but it was quite fun though" Tohka nodded in agreement, "So, what's our next move?" she asked. Hikaru scanned the surroundings, taking in the expanse of the beautiful beach before them. "Let's take a break and enjoy the scenery for a bit. Then, maybe we can take a little dip in the water." Tohka nodded, and the two of them sat there, enjoying the peaceful sound of the waves crashing against the shore. But before long, Tohka's sharp ears picked up an unfamiliar noise coming from behind the rock. "did you hear that?" Tohka whispered, motioning to Hikaru. Hikaru's eyes widened as she listened carefully. "Don't tell me someone's making his way here," she muttered under her breath. She crept towards the edge of the rock, peeking over to see who or what was making the noise..." Oh of course... it's him..." Intrigued by Hikaru's reaction, Tohka joined her at the edge of the rock. "What's the matter, Hikaru?" she inquired, her voice tinged with curiosity. And as her eyes followed Hikaru's line of sight, they widened in surprise. "Wait...isn't that Shido? And why is he doing with those two?" Hikaru narrowed her eyes as she watched Shido and the two girls. "I don't know," she replied, still studying them intently. "But we should be careful. Shido's always getting himself into trouble, and I don't want us to get dragged into—." "SHIDO!!" "..." Before Hikaru could continue the sentence Tohka was already halfway toward Shido. "Well, he we go again" She followed from behind. (...) As Shido finished applying sunscreen to the two sisters, he heard a voice calling out to him. At first, he thought it was Reine speaking through his earpiece, but that wasn't it. "T-Tohka?!" Shido spun around, his eyes widening at the sight of Tohka approaching him, with Hikaru following closely behind. "Shido, why are you with the Yamai sisters?" Tohka questioned, her tone laced with curiosity. Shido smiled vaguely and took a step back. "Oh. Well... Um. Ha-ha-ha! The truth is, we got lost..." "Oh? Why, if it isn't Tohka? Keh-keh... What a treasure you are, to come to your master's feet of your own accord. I praise you." "Admiration. Master Origami, why are you here?" "Origami?!" Shido repeated, confused. After all, Origami wasn't here— "I am here," Origami replied simply. "...What the fu—" his heart jumped from its place as his eyes landed on Origami standing right beside him "When did—" "I have been here all along," Origami replied, her answer only adding to the confusion swirling in Shido's mind. "..." Now that he was thinking about it, he felt someone was watching him from somewhere. It wasn't just a figment of his imagination after all. "...Could you hang on just a second?" a sleepy voice from behind Shido turned to find Reine wearing a hoodie over her swimsuit. Perhaps blinded by the direct sunlight, she narrowed her eyes and held one hand up to shade them, her head wobbling. She looked anemic, a patient ready to topple over at any second. But he knew that this was her normal state of being. "Reine...?" He furrowed his brow doubtfully. She was supposed to be advising Kaguya and Yuzuru through their earpieces. The two Spirits likely had the same question. "...Sorry, I forgot to get a watermelon. But we have more people now, and there's a court over there. How about some beach volleyball instead?" She pointed at a spot farther down the beach. Although suspicious at first, Kaguya and Yuzuru quickly read between the lines of this suggestion and jumped up. "Hmm, well, fine. Whatever we do, I will stand at the peak." "Agreement. This is acceptable. It will be Yuzuru who wins in the end, after all." They met each other's eyes, and even though it wasn't a race, both began to run at the same time. "Oh!" Tohka also took off running, as if inspired by this. The eyes of Origami turned on Shido and Reine, she still wasn't entirely on board, but perhaps intuition that she would get no further explanation, she started to walk along the beach. "Well, with that, I'll take my leave." "Are you leaving already?" Shido asked, surprised at her sudden departure. "Yes, it seems my presence is not welcomed by someone," she replied, casting a pointed look toward a certain girl. Shido followed her gaze and noticed Hikaru's whole body shaking and sweating, clearly uncomfortable with Reine's presence. "Ah, I see," Shido said, understanding the situation. "In any case, we'll stay in touch." "Indeed, we will," Reine nodded, turning on her heel and walking away. Shido watched as Reine walked away. He let out a small sigh and turned his attention back to Hikaru, who was now visibly trembling. He could see the sweat pouring down her face, and she was shaking so badly that he feared she might collapse at any moment. "Are you okay?" he asked, reaching out to steady her. Hikaru nodded weakly, her eyes still fixed on Reine's retreating figure. "Then let us proceed. The others must be waiting for us," Shido suggested, patting her gently on the back as he offered her a reassuring smile. "..." Hikaru nodded in response, silently trailing behind him. : Shido's supper that night tasted like nothing. And it wasn't because the inn's chef was being overly thoughtful about the health of the guests or catering to his tastes. It was simply that Shido's mind was somewhere else entirely. He finished his meal without a word to anyone else and walked slowly down the hallway, turning various ideas over in his mind. The words that Kaguya and Yuzuru had spoken to him that afternoon at the beach were still going round and round in his head. In order to let her other self live, she would choose annihilation. He hadn't been able to understand what they were thinking right away. But, for instance, if he knew his little sister, Kotori, would die if he didn't sacrifice his own life, he was sure he'd do it without a moment's hesitation. And that decision wasn't the product of some sort of narcissistic impulse, like a fixation on self-sacrifice or devotion to another. It was simply that the question wasn't a choice at all. His brain would automatically decide that there was only one answer without any conscious input from him. "...do." So he understood painfully well Kaguya's desire for Yuzuru to live and Yuzuru's desire for Kaguya to live. "Shido." It wasn't just that. He was maybe even happy to discover that Kaguya and Yuzuru were thinking about each other in this way. But... "Hey! Shido!" "Ngh?!" He jumped in surprise. "Honestly! So you finally heard me?" Without his noticing, Tohka had come to stand beside him, clad in a yukata, and now she pursed her lips out in a pout. "T-Tohka... Where'd you come from?" "I've been walking beside you for a while now." She looked hard at his face. "Hmm? What?" "Oh." She averted her eyes, and then the corners of her mouth slid up, and she grabbed his hand. "Shido, do you want to go outside for a bit?" "Huh...?" "I want to see the ocean at night." She tugged on his hand. "H-hey, whoa." Shido braced himself and braked hard when Tohka tried to urge him forward. "No, it'd be bad if we just went out on our own. I mean, it's almost time for the teachers to come round and check on us." She sighed through her pout. "Sorry, Shido. I kind of lied." "Huh?" "It's... I dunno, we came all the way here for our school trip, and it's like...we haven't really talked. So I wanted to talk, just me and you." "...!" "Is that...bad?" she asked, looking up at him, head tilted slightly downward. "...Oh. Is that—I mean." If there was a man alive who could say no to that, Shido would have liked to lay eyes on him. A second later, Tohka beamed as she dragged him away. (...) Under the moon of the night, the beach was illuminated by the silver light of the moon. The gentle sound of the waves kissing the shore filled the air, accompanied by the occasional rustle of the leaves from nearby trees. The girl strolled near the breakwater, her feet sinking into the cool sand with each step she took. Her gaze was fixated on the endless horizon as if searching for something beyond the vast expanse of the sea. Her mind was racing a thousand miles a minute. Every thought that entered her head triggered another, and soon she was lost in a sea of confusion and anxiety, and that was killing her. "Why does it always happen when I'm alone?" the girl said...Hikaru said Her brows furrowed, and her eyes narrowed as she tried to sort through the jumble of thoughts in her head. She used to love being alone, but now she hated it. She twisted and turned her fingers, and her breathing grew shallow and labored. Her heart raced, and her chest felt tight as if a weight were pressing down on her. She tried to shake the feeling off, to calm herself down, but it only made things worse. The thoughts kept coming, one after another, like an unending stream of consciousness. She tried to push them away, to focus on something else, but they were too powerful. They consumed her, body and soul. She closed her eyes, hoping that shutting out the world around her would help her find some peace. But the darkness behind her lids was just as overwhelming as the chaos outside. Her mind conjured up images of worst-case scenarios, of things that had never happened and might never happen. Her mind conjured up images of worst-case scenarios, of things that had never happened and might never happen. "I need someone to talk to, someone to be with," Hikaru murmured under her breath. Her classmates had already forgotten about her, Tohka was with Shido, and Kaguya and Yuzuru were nowhere to be found... "Perhaps I should visit Yoshino today too," she thought, her steps faltering as she was about to leave. But then, a figure caught her eye, two figures to be exact, standing at the edge of the breakwater facing each other. "Hmm?" Curiosity piqued, Hikaru cautiously approached the figures, her footsteps barely audible on the sand. As she drew closer, her eyes widened in recognition. "Kaguya and Yozuru?" she exclaimed with surprise, her curiosity growing with each passing moment. "what are they doing—" Krr, krr, krr! "...!" Her words were abruptly cut short as a violent gust of wind roared through the beach, the force of which made the very earth beneath her feet tremble like an earthquake. The walls of nearby buildings creaked ominously, threatening to collapse under the force of the gale. Hikaru's attention was drawn back to the two figures as their clothes changed, and they began to float toward the sky. Recognition dawned on her as the two girls took on a familiar form. the confusion on hikaru face didn't last long as a huge grin spread across her face., "FINALLY SOMETHING TO SPEND MY TIME WITH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" she exclaimed, letting out a hysterical laugh that echoed through the deserted beach. As Hikaru was about to fly toward them. "...!" a sudden sensation behind her sent shivers down her spine. Reacting swiftly, she jumped away. Sure enough, a sharp metallic sound echoed through the air where she had just been standing. She turned to face the source of the sound, her eyes narrowing as she assessed the situation. "hmm...?" Her eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed a humanoid figure standing with its fists pressed against the ground. "that not a human being nor a spirit" The appearance was far from organic, with its design prioritizing efficiency and functionality over aesthetics. Its limbs were rounded and streamlined, giving it the shape of a person, but one that was not alive. It could easily be described as a robot or mechanical doll, an intricate machine that mimicked the form of a human. "I've read about these in books..." Hikaru murmured. "Whoever sent you, they underestimate me. One doll can't possibly stop—" Her words were cut short as her gaze swept across the scene before her. Shadows converged from every angle, gradually taking shape and forming a menacing circle around her. The realization dawned on her, sending a surge of adrenaline through her veins. Hikaru's face flushed with a combination of exhilaration and anticipation. A broad smile graced her lips. She couldn't contain her excitement any longer. This was the moment she had been waiting for Hikaru's clothing began to shimmer and emit a radiant light. Her mundane attire was quickly replaced by her astral dress, which unfurled majestically around her. "Looks like it's not just one doll after all," Hikaru said, her voice laced with a hint of thrill. "This is going to be fun."