“Shido~! Shido! Let’s ride that!”
The ride Tohka was pointing at was a water slide.
“A water slide?”
“Mm-hm! If the five of us go down together, it’ll definitely be fun!”
“I’m fine. Yoshinon too, right...?”
“I’m good too. I’m not a little kid.”
“You *are* a little kid—ngh!”
I tried to argue with the commander and got jabbed in the side. You are a little kid!
“Ahem. I’m out too. I might drop Hikinon.”
“〔Master... Are you worried about me?〕”
“No. It’s just a hassle.”
“〔You meanie, Master!〕”
Well, you chose your master. Deal with it through force and stubbornness. Or whatever.
“Is that so? Then, Shido! Let’s ride it together!”
Tohka looped her arm through Shido's, and he looked at the commander with a troubled expression.
“Hold on. I guess I’m going too.”
Of course the commander was going to ride. She likes Shido, after all. Besides, this was supposed to be her date with him in the first place.
“〔Master! Look at that! Doesn’t that boy seem kind of flustered?〕”
“Yeah.”
Yoshino and I were sitting on a nearby bench, watching the three of them ride, and just as Hikinon said, Shido did seem flustered.
The reason was his posture. Shido was in the middle, with the commander clinging to the front of him and Tohka hugging him from behind. If it had been me, I might have died in that position.
“Kyahhh!!!”
“Waaah!!!”
“Hiiyaaaah!!!”
The three of them started screaming as they descended. Wobbling violently at high speed, they lost control on a curve and flew right off the slide.
“Wow.”
I let out a sound of genuine impression as I watched them fall in such a dramatic fashion. How do you even fall like that?
“Hahaha! That was fun! Shido!”
Tohka looked delighted, but Shido had a slightly exhausted expression. The commander was standing there quietly, hugging Shido tight. Her hair had come loose; it looked like her hair tie had slipped off during the fall... Why was she being so calm?
“It went ‘whoosh—!’ and then ‘fwoomp—!’ and then ‘splash—!’!”
Tohka, having climbed out of the water, was explaining the experience to Yoshino. Wasn't that a bit much, with all those sound effects?
“Honestly, you do such reckless things.”
“Hey, Kotori. Why are you wearing a black ribbon today?”
While I was watching Tohka's explanation, I caught a snippet of the conversation between the commander and Shido. A black ribbon? So there was another one?
“A ribbon?”
“Ah... Well—”
“Forget it. I’ll explain.”
According to the commander, she usually wore a white ribbon, but when she worked at [Fraxinus], she wore a black one.
She also claimed her personality changed depending on which ribbon she wore... Honestly, I’d only ever seen her with the black ribbon, so now I was curious what she was like with the white one. Not that I could ask her to show me. Well, I’d probably see it someday.
“Anyway, the white ‘me’ is the weak me. If I’m not the black, strong me... it won’t do.”
The commander was saying something that didn't quite make sense to me. However, I could tell the mood was growing heavier.
Just as the atmosphere was becoming serious, Tohka and Yoshino came over.
“Hey, Shido! That was more of a ‘swoosh—!’ than a ‘slash—!’!”
“Huh? Well, either way...”
“No, this is an important issue!”
I had no idea what was so important about it, but thanks to Tohka’s interruption, the heavy mood lifted. I silently thanked her and looked at the commander.
“What.”
“No, I was just wondering how a person’s personality changes based on a ribbon.”
“Haaah?!”
That’s a fair point. Your personality changes when your ribbon changes? That’s basically a split personality, isn’t it?
I didn’t say that out loud, though. I didn’t want to receive a “Commander Punch!” for no reason.
Anyway, the commander, who had been looking at me as if I were strange, suddenly widened her eyes in shock.
“Hm? Why is she acting like that all of a sudden—”
Following the commander’s gaze, I saw Tohka with the top half of her swimsuit slipped off, frantically covering herself with both hands. The moment I saw that, I shut my eyes and looked away.
“D-did you see it, Shido?!”
“I didn’t! I didn’t see anything!”
Thwack!
“Guhk!”
From the sound of it, the commander had definitely struck Shido.
“You said smaller was better...!”
“That was the important part?!”
I blurted out an objection without thinking.
******
Time passed, and it was now a little early for lunch. We were eating at a restaurant inside Ocean Park.
“This is delicious, Shido!”
“Yeah? Good.”
“It’s very tasty.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
There was a little food around Yoshino’s mouth, so I took out a handkerchief and wiped it away as I spoke.
“But isn’t this a little... no, a lot too much food?”
“W-well...”
Shido quietly pointed at one person: Tohka. Sure enough, Tohka’s appetite was absurdly huge. I’d seen her eat unbelievable amounts of food before.
I nodded slightly to show I understood. Then I went back to wiping Yoshino’s mouth, and I noticed her face had turned a little red.
“Hm? Are you all right?”
“I-I’m fine...”
If she says she’s fine, I won’t push it, but I should probably keep an eye on her.
As I was thinking that and looking around, everyone except Tohka—who was eating with great enthusiasm—was looking at me with odd expressions.
“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“No, nothing.”
“Yeah. Nothing at all.”
I was a little suspicious, but it didn’t seem like anything was going on, so I started eating too.
Then, while the commander was drinking something, she started coughing repeatedly.
“What’s wrong? You okay?”
“Yeah. I just choked a little.”
The commander then stood up from her seat.
“Where are you going?”
“Asking a lady where she’s going when she leaves the table? You’d be dead if it weren’t for me.”
The commander sharply brushed off Shido’s concern and walked away at her own pace.
Before long, she disappeared from view, and Shido let out a long sigh.
“Haa... Hm? What’s wrong?”
“No, I just thought you were back to your usual self.”
“Did you and Kotori fight?”
“〔The moment she left, the tension dropped. You’re so easy to read, Shido-kun~〕”
“Huh? Was it that obvious?”
At Shido’s question, everyone, including me, nodded. Even I could tell he had been incredibly tense.
Dating the commander while looking like someone being chased by a predator—there was no way that would go well. The fact that the commander knew about [Fraxinus] was part of the stress, too.
Anyway, I decided to give Shido some advice out of concern.
“Shido.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“From what I can see, you are extremely tense. First, relax a little. And from here on, instead of following orders from [Fraxinus], how about you personally choose and lead the date?”
“Me, personally?”
“Yes. A date where the commander is led by choices you make yourself will be far more effective than one directed by [Fraxinus]. After all, she knows about them. So, gather your courage and try doing it with your own strength.”
After hearing my advice, Shido thought for a moment, then said he was going to the restroom too and left his seat.
Not long after Shido left, Yoshino also got up and departed.
“〔Master! That! Try that one too!〕”
Hikinon, who was connected to me, could apparently taste food too, because once the three of them were gone, she ordered me to eat a lot. I had no reason to refuse, so I kept eating, and Tohka kept eating as well.
Before long, everything except Yoshino’s portion was wiped out. Hmm... I do feel a little bad for Shido, but what can you do? He left his seat. That’s on him.
After a little more time passed, Yoshino came back first, and Shido returned shortly after. With a slightly stiff face, he said to us,
“Could we go to the jungle cruise?”
“Hm? Why?”
“Please. Don’t ask why.”
Tohka looked flustered at what was almost the first request he’d ever made, then agreed. Yoshino and I also agreed after seeing Shido’s expression, and after finishing our meal, we headed for the jungle cruise.
******
Meanwhile, somewhere in the AST unit, Tobiichi Origami was reviewing a piece of equipment with Kusakabe Ryoko, the captain of her unit.
“This is the ‘interesting thing’?”
“Yeah. Experimental unit DW-029, anti-spirit armored gear [White Licorice]. A ridiculous unit that dumps the firepower of an entire AST company into one person.”
“If I use this, can I take down [Ifrit]?”
“In theory, it’s equipment capable of taking down a Spirit, but you don’t have the authority or the skill, so you can’t use it.”
Then came the explanation. She said that when DEM’s exclusive wizard activated all the equipment at full power, she ended up a wreck in just thirty minutes.
After finishing her explanation, Kusakabe Ryoko wondered why Tobiichi Origami had brought up [Ifrit].
“But why is Ifrit coming up? Oh, was the thing recorded in the video the other day Ifrit?”
“Video...”
At the word video, Tobiichi reacted.
After Kusakabe left, Tobiichi stayed behind and checked the recorded footage by herself.
“What... is this...!”
In the video, a Spirit who controlled flames was clearly captured.
But.
“Two...”
The Spirit who controlled flames was not one person, but two.
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