“Shiori-san, I heard you’re Shidou-san’s cousin, right? Is that true?”
“Shiori-san, do you want to go sing karaoke with us?”
“Yeah, yeah, Shiori-san’s voice is a bit neutral, so singing must sound really good!”
“I remember there’s a nice family restaurant in the shopping district. Why don’t we have a welcome party for Shiori-san there?”
***
As soon as school ended in the afternoon, the girls in the class surrounded Shiori again, inviting her to join their activities.
Shiori forced a smile onto her face, refusing their invitations one by one.
Right now, Shiori had only one thought.
To go home!
After ten minutes of effort, most of the girls in the class had finally been dealt with, though a few were still inviting Shiori to a mixer.
Just as Shiori was about to sigh in relief, Tohka suddenly walked over with her bag, looking as innocent as ever.
“Shidou, Shidou, let’s go home.”
“Shidou?”
“Shidou-san didn’t come today, right? Did Tohka-san get confused again?”
The two girls were puzzled by Tohka’s way of addressing Shiori, but then remembered Tohka’s airheaded personality and let it go.
On the other hand, Shiori, upon hearing this, sprang up from her seat like a startled carp, clamped her hand over Tohka’s mouth, and laughed awkwardly.
“Tohka-chan really does mix up my name with my cousin’s sometimes…”
Then, Shiori lowered her voice and whispered in Tohka’s ear.
“Tohka, right now I’m Shidou’s cousin Shiori. Please don’t say anything weird!”
Although Shiori had wanted to explain this to Tohka alone today, every time class ended, her desk was swarmed, making it impossible to find a chance.
Tohka stared at Shiori with a blank look.
“I don’t really get it, but if Shidou says so, I’ll do it.”
“Eh? Tohka-chan, do you know Shiori-san?”
Seeing the closeness between the two, a classmate asked curiously.
Shiori smiled as she explained.
“Well… I’m actually Shidou-kun’s cousin. I transferred here recently because of some reasons…”
“So that’s how it is. Speaking of which, Tohka-chan and Shidou-san get along well too.”
At last, she managed to brush things off.
Shiori couldn’t help wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.
“Since Shiori-san already made plans with Tohka-chan, we won’t intrude. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Watching as the girls left the classroom one by one, Shiori slumped back into her seat, feeling as if all the strength had been drained from her body.
So being popular is this exhausting?
After a moment, Shiori turned to look at Tohka.
“Let’s go home—”
Halfway through the sentence, Shiori suddenly noticed a pair of eyes from the neighboring seat staring at her.
Shiori hurriedly turned her head, meeting Origami’s silent gaze.
I forgot about this problem…
“Shi…ori, walk home with me today.”
Origami packed her textbooks expressionlessly.
Tohka frowned, stepping in front of Shiori and shouting at Origami.
“I’ve already made plans with Shiori! Today she’s going home with me! First come, first served!”
Origami’s face remained unmoved.
She looked at Shiori, then at Shidou.
“But I don’t care about that.”
As soon as she spoke, Origami’s figure flickered and, in the blink of an eye, disappeared from the two’s line of sight.
The next moment, like teleportation, Origami appeared at Shiori’s side, linking arms with her right hand.
Her face was still emotionless, but her gaze burned with intensity.
“Shiori, let’s go shopping for clothes later. I think there are some outfits that would suit you.”
The corner of Shiori’s mouth twitched.
Is she trying to start a dress-up play here?
“No! Shiori already promised to have dinner with me at the family restaurant in the shopping district! I even skipped lunch and didn’t bring my bento for this!”
Tohka, unwilling to give in, grabbed Shiori’s left hand, trying to pull her away from Origami.
“There’s no point arguing. Shiori has to spend time with me today.”
Origami tightened her grip on Shiori’s right hand.
“I won’t let you have Shiori!”
Tohka increased her own strength.
“Wait, wait, wait, you two, stop fighting!”
Shiori shouted as the tension between the two escalated, feeling as if her body might be torn apart at any moment.
If this continued, she’d be ripped in half for sure!
However, the two were too fired up to hear Shiori’s plea.
At this moment, Shiori felt a bit hopeless.
Was she really going to die here today?
One was a Spirit whose Spirit Power had been sealed by her, the other was a current member of AST.
Neither of them were ordinary people.
If she didn’t stop them before things got serious, she might not even have time to find Shinomiya’s Hand Puppet before it was all over.
“Tohka, Origami, how about we all go out together today? Tohka, if there’s something you want to eat, I’ll buy it for you, no complaints. Origami, if you want to go to the clothing store, I’ll accompany you to the end!”
In her desperation, Shiori decided to try anything.
She knew that Tohka and Origami never got along, so going out together was almost impossible.
But to save her own life, she had no choice.
To her surprise, both of them loosened their grips at the same time, deep in thought.
“Then, can I buy ten Yellow Soybean Bread?”
Tohka asked hopefully.
Shiori smiled wryly.
“As long as you can eat them all.”
“Shiori, do you mean it?”
Origami asked expressionlessly. But perhaps it was just her imagination, Shiori felt that the heat in Origami’s eyes seemed even stronger.
“Yes, yes…”
Shiori nodded.
As long as you let me live, anything’s fine…
“Then, it’s not impossible to go together with her.（×2）”
Tohka and Origami spoke in unison.
Then, because they said the same thing, the two glared at each other and turned away with a huff.
They actually get along on this one thing…
The shopping district wasn’t far from Raizen High School, just a little over ten minutes’ walk.
But for Shiori, those ten minutes felt like a century.
With two beautiful girls, Tohka and Origami, walking beside her, plus Shiori’s own looks not losing to either, the three of them became the center of attention the moment they left the school—a moving scenery line, turning heads wherever they went.
Normally, that would be a good thing.
But what Shiori couldn’t stand was the lecherous stares from the guys.
It was creepy!
“Shiori, let’s buy Yellow Soybean Bread first, then go to the family restaurant!”
Tohka said with anticipation.
She’d been craving that restaurant for a long time, and every time she passed by, the aroma would tempt her.
But Origami disagreed.
“Clothing store first.”
“No, restaurant first!”
“Clothing store.”
As the two were about to start fighting again, Shiori quickly intervened.
“Both of you, stop arguing. I think we should eat dinner at the restaurant first, so we’ll have the energy to go to the clothing store afterward.”
Honestly, Shiori really didn’t want to try on women’s clothes, so dragging it out a bit longer was the best she could do…