"Hey, hey, aren't you the Demon King? Before when we fought in midair you weren't afraid at all, so why are you scared of this thing?" At that moment, Tohka looked at her other self in disbelief. Someone who could fly was actually afraid of this? She was starting to feel that this girl was gradually turning into the canon version of Tohka. Maybe because she herself had taken that place, it had caused the original Tohka and the Inverse Tohka's personalities to merge. But as she recalled, in the original story it was Kotori Itsuka who was afraid of this kind of thing, so why was it her inverse self now?
"Hey, hey, it's not the same! That was flying, but this...ah!" Watching the roller coaster slowly climb to the highest point, the Inverse Tohka hadn't finished her sentence before the ride suddenly plunged down, and she instinctively let out a scream.
"This is the haunted house, don't be like this. They're just staff—if you hurt them, you'll still have to pay compensation!" After coming down from the roller coaster, the two of them went into the so-called haunted house. This time, the Inverse Tohka wasn't scared, but Tohka kind of wished she had been. Because when a figure suddenly popped out, she immediately threw a punch at it. Thankfully Tohka was quick and grabbed her around the waist—otherwise she'd definitely be paying someone's medical bills today. Even with diminished power, Inverse Tohka was still strong—strong enough to put someone straight into the hospital.
"Hey, hey, let me go! This guy dared to try to scare me—does he really think I'm that easy to bully? Hmph, it's not like I haven't seen real ghosts before." Since she was now just a vessel, her strength was far less than Tohka's, so she couldn't break free. She just hovered midair, flailing her arms and yelling threats.
"Can you not? Just be quiet for a moment. This is their job, you know? Mister ghost over there, could you please just leave?" She knew the "ghosts" she referred to were probably the ones she'd encountered before—Ghost Rider and the other summoned monsters.
"….." The guy in costume was silently cursing. This was definitely the most humiliating performance of his life. Usually he enjoyed the customers' screams, but today he'd almost been punched.
"Hey, hey, they're gone now—put me down. Really, it was a rare chance to stretch my arms and legs. Yesterday's fight wasn't satisfying at all." Watching the "ghost" leave, the Inverse Tohka sighed with disappointment, then reminded Tohka—who was still holding her aloft.
"Yeah, not satisfying?" Hearing that, Tohka was speechless. "Would you only be happy if you killed Kotori or sliced half the city in one blow? What good would that do you?"
"Tch, you really don't get it, do you?" She looked away, lips curled in disdain. "Isn't it obvious? All those times you were outside fighting, I was itching to step in. So many enemies I could have wiped out with a single swing, but you insisted on dragging things out."
"Enough already. It's not like I'm trying to kill people! If you murdered everyone you met, how would I even live here?" Tohka really didn't have the energy to argue with her anymore.
"Hmph." Seeing her exasperation, the Inverse Tohka lifted her chin proudly. She was quite satisfied to have rendered Tohka speechless.
"Fine, you win." Tohka sighed helplessly, deciding not to bother explaining anymore. Let her think what she wanted.
"Mm, as expected of you, Tohka." Up above, Kyouhei Kannazuki watched the screen, nodding in satisfaction as the Inverse Tohka's affection level rapidly increased with all the amusement park time.
"Yes, it's certainly quite good," Reine Muramatsu agreed, also nodding approval. But a moment later she frowned slightly. The Inverse Tohka's sudden appearance was still too unexpected.
"I just hope this doesn't interfere with my plan. The whole operation is already underway—changing strategies now isn't an option. What a headache..." She muttered under her breath, then fell silent, watching the screen intently. By now, the two Tohkas had left the amusement park and arrived at another attraction.
"The carousel...let's pick something else," This time it was Tohka's turn to be uneasy. In her previous life, she'd heard people say carousels were "the scariest rides," so she really didn't want to go.
"Well, well—so you're scared of something after all?" Seeing Tohka backing away a little, the Inverse Tohka couldn't resist teasing her.
"Tch, who says I'm scared? Fine, I'll do it!" Provoked, Tohka swallowed her nerves and climbed onto a horse. No way was she going to lose face here.
"….."
"Mmm...this feels nice. Hard to believe a whole day has passed." As the sun set, the two Tohkas sat side by side, gazing at the view. They'd left the amusement park behind and were now at an observation platform on the outskirts of Tengu City. As for the damage Tohka's sword strike had done before, there wasn't even a trace of it left here.
"Yeah, I guess this was the first time we ever spent a whole day playing together. By the way, where's that Miku Izayoi? Haven't seen her around lately. Hmph—her maid uniform was always fun to look at. Without her tagging along, it feels weird," Inverse Tohka agreed, nodding thoughtfully. But soon she seemed puzzled. She hadn't paid much attention to the outside world, but she'd realized she hadn't seen Miku at all since arriving. And every time she did appear, Miku always hovered nervously behind her. It really was a little lonely without her.
"Oh my god—what exactly do you think Miku is? Your personal full-time maid?" Tohka rolled her eyes so hard they almost fell out. No wonder Miku always gave her those weird looks after she took back control of her body.
"Aaah, what a relaxing day. And sorry for all the trouble—making you waste a whole day keeping me company," Inverse Tohka stepped in front of her and gave her a gentle hug. She flashed a beautiful smile, then slowly turned transparent right before Tohka's eyes, finally disappearing altogether.
"Don't worry—I promise I'll help you get a real body someday. That way, you can come out to play whenever you like," Tohka looked at the spot where she'd vanished with determination in her eyes. She was right—she'd almost never let her out. The few times she had appeared were only to bail her out of danger. Even if she never complained, Tohka still felt guilty.
"Damn it—fine, vanish if you want. But why couldn't you take my clothes with you?" But she hadn't even finished sighing when she realized something infuriating. As her inverse self-disappeared, she'd left her borrowed clothes behind. They fluttered gently to the ground—and caught in a breeze, a pair of blue-and-white panties landed squarely on Tohka's face. She blushed instantly, knowing full well the people up on the battleship were definitely spying on her right now.
"Wait—where'd that spirit go? She vanished without a trace, and we're not detecting any residual readings!" Up on the battleship, the command center erupted into chaos. No one had expected the Inverse Tohka to disappear in such a manner, especially when they'd been getting significant spiritual readings only moments before.
Everyone frantically pounded their keyboards, desperate to locate her again. But there were exceptions. One operator—who'd cleared over a hundred galge—was grinning lecherously. "Tsk tsk—blue and white panties, huh? Not bad at all."
"Attention, all personnel! That spirit from yesterday just reappeared. Forget the other Tohka for now—if needed, we can teleport her up here later to ask questions," At that moment, Kyouhei Kannazuki's voice cut in urgently. He had clearly seen a shadow slowly materializing behind Tohka.
"My, my—how unexpected. Little Tohka, so soon and you've already found yourself a new lover. I've been watching for a while, you know." While Tohka was scrambling to gather up her clothes, a voice spoke softly behind her. At the sound, she instinctively shivered. She knew who it was—even if that wasn't the main reason for her dread. The real reason was that this woman was an incurable yandere.
"Truly surprising. Who was that other Tohka? I'm quite curious about her identity," Sure enough, she felt a smooth arm coil around her neck. A moment later, a soft warmth pressed against her back. The voice came again, this time whispering right into her ear.
"Hey—what are you, a ghost or something?" Tohka finally recovered her composure, though she was still shaken. She never expected this woman to appear out of nowhere behind her. Wasn't she supposed to be off somewhere replenishing the time she'd used up?
"My, my—you seem quite puzzled," Kurumi Tokisaki apparently saw straight through her confusion. Before Tohka could speak, she began explaining herself. "Really—there's no rush with those matters in the shadows. I left them to my clones so I could come see you. So—did you have a nice day?"
"Hey, you're not that 'forever-seventeen' old hag—why are you pulling this stunt?" Tohka shrugged her shoulders, dislodging Kurumi from her back. She straightened her clothes, then turned around to face her. "Let me guess—you left a clone tailing me the whole time, and the moment you spotted my other self, your real body rushed over."
It wasn't even speculation. In the original, Kurumi did exactly that. And the one before her—she could tell without seeing the angel that this was the real Kurumi.
"Oh, it's nothing—I was just curious, you know. Yesterday's little Tohka was acting so strangely—it really did frighten me," Kurumi didn't deny it. Clearly, she had done precisely what Tohka guessed.
"Tch, I bet you'd already figured it out," Tohka was certain she had. So, she didn't bother hiding it anymore and admitted, "I don't know how much you know about yourself, but I can tell you clearly—that was my inverse form."
The people on the battleship could only see the visuals, not hear them, so she wasn't worried about them eavesdropping. There was no point keeping secrets from Kurumi anyway—she wasn't likely to blab.
"Is that so." Kurumi didn't smile this time. Instead, she looked at Tohka very seriously. "Does that mean that like you, I also have another me hidden inside?"
"Uh...that's what you're worried about?" Tohka was caught off guard. She took a moment before replying. "Every spirit has a reversal. But mine is special—my inverse self has an independent personality. Yours, probably, just amplifies your negative emotions."
She wasn't making it up. She remembered that aside from her, none of the other reversals were truly separate beings. Well, maybe Origami Tobiichi's was different—she'd practically been split into two people. But she wasn't sure about that either; she hadn't watched the anime all the way to the end.
"My, my—is that so? That's a relief," Hearing that, Kurumi finally relaxed. Not everyone could accept having another self-lurking inside, especially one that might not share their ideals.
"Well then—little Tohka, it seems more people are about to arrive. I'll take my leave for now. Until we meet again," Sure enough, because Kurumi hadn't tried to hide herself this time, she'd triggered the alarms. Several bright points of light were heading their way. So, she calmly melted into her own shadow. She'd used up a lot of time earlier, and she had no intention of sticking around for another fight with AST.
"Hey—wait a minute, you—" Tohka was about to ask her to take her along, but before she could finish, she felt a familiar ripple engulf her. She knew the battleship was teleporting her up, so she stopped talking.