"You really were so embarrassing today, big brother." Elsewhere in the Itsuka household, Kotori Itsuka, wearing her black headband, was scolding her brother. There was no helping it—today's attempt had been a complete failure, and Tohka had thoroughly roasted him, leaving him unable to retort. Especially after seeing her subordinates wailing in misery, Kotori also felt a bit exhausted. But in a way, this time her brother had been the one on the front lines. Since the whole operation had fallen flat, there was no way he could escape responsibility. So, she took the chance to vent a little.
"Not only did you fail to raise her affection even a little, but it actually went down. But that's not the main issue. The main issue is, you didn't even get her name. Which means next time, you won't even have a way to start the conversation." At this moment, Kotori had switched to commander mode, sucking on her trademark lollipop while she lectured Shido, who stood before her looking dejected.
"Sigh, is all of this really necessary?" After getting scolded by his little sister and being thoroughly ridiculed by Tohka earlier, Shido was beginning to doubt whether any of this was right. After all, this Tohka wasn't radiating the same aura of sorrow as the one in the original story. That alone didn't stir any particular feelings in him, so he was basically just being forced into this by Kotori.
"No! Brother, you mustn't start thinking like that." Seeing Shido's expression, Kotori was startled. If he gave up now, everything would fall apart.
"Think about it—so many beautiful girls need you to save them. And don't forget, all of us are working so you can build a big, wonderful harem. That's the dream of countless people!" Seeing that Shido was still not convinced, Kotori had no choice but to switch tactics and try to tempt him. After all, he was an absolutely crucial part of their plan.
"Fine. I'm going to get some rest." Hearing Kotori's words, Shido could only sigh helplessly, then head toward his room. Today's events had shaken him. Sure, Tohka was beautiful, but he wasn't mentally prepared to risk his life chasing after girls.
"Sigh." Watching her brother slump away, Kotori didn't know what else to say. Thanks to Tohka, what should've been the golden start straight out of the original story had been turned into this lukewarm mess.
"Sigh, whatever, I'm back." Back on her throne, Tohka began to wonder if maybe she'd overdone it. She seemed to have shaken that boy pretty badly. She couldn't help it—there had been so many ridiculous moments today that she'd felt compelled to speak her mind. But only now did she recall: in the original story, Shido had been able to muster the resolve to risk his life to date her because of that sorrowful look in her eyes when she first appeared. As for her? Yeah, not so much. She knew everything already—she wasn't the same Tohka who'd never interacted with people. So, her gaze absolutely lacked that kind of emotional impact.
"Ughhh, this is a headache." Realizing this, Tohka clutched her head in frustration. She knew the manifestation and sealing of the Spirits had all been orchestrated by a certain person. And if she wanted to unlock her Kabbalah Tree of Life, she'd still have to negotiate with that "Phantom," that is, Kurumi Tokisaki. If she completely ruined Phantom's plan, she'd be stuck.
"Whatever. Tomorrow I'll just approach them myself. Maybe there's still a way to patch this up. Thankfully, this world has already fully opened up to me. Worst case, I can just come back here to rest. It's dark, but it's still a decent place to sleep." Having decided what to do tomorrow, Tohka closed her eyes again. After all, it was already night outside. Even if she went out, there was nothing she could do right now. It was more practical to just keep sleeping.
And so, the night passed peacefully over Tengu City. The residents had all returned to the ground level. Since this time Tohka had only destroyed the school, and tomorrow was Sunday, there was no rush to repair it.
"Mmm, another sunny day." The next morning, Tohka stood atop a tall building, gazing out over the calm Tengu City. Now that she could move about freely, she didn't trigger any alarms. She had to admit—the scenery here was quite nice. The bustling city was surrounded by layered mountains and hills, and from above it looked breathtaking.
"Alright, let's see if Tony's armor network works here." Soon, Tohka realized she had no idea where those people lived. A shimmer of light passed over her, and her Astral Dress disappeared, replaced by the casual clothes she'd worn when leaving the Marvel world. Then, a purple-black suit of armor with a ghost-faced helmet appeared over her.
"Let's find out if this works." She placed the helmet on her face and activated the network system. To her delight, Tony's technology was as reliable as ever. She quickly connected to the local security network. Without delay, she typed in "Shido Itsuka." She had to admit—his identity had been prepared flawlessly. Even after hacking the household registry, she couldn't find a single suspicious detail. Of course, she wasn't really trying to expose him—she just wanted to confirm his address.
"Mmm, this feels so nice." That morning, Shido stretched lazily as he climbed out of bed. To his surprise, his little sister hadn't used her usual creative methods to wake him up. So, he'd slept extremely well, and his mood was pretty good.
"What happened here? Did we get robbed?" But the moment he opened his door, his good mood vanished. He saw that the refrigerator door was standing wide open, and everything inside had disappeared. As for his sister, she was standing nearby, staring excitedly into the living room.