Chapter 16: *inhales*

Kyo stretched his arms as he yawned deeply. The sun, nearing the apex of its day cycle, bore down on him from above. "I could be playing Pokémon right now."

"Oh, man up. And it's Poketmon, get it right!" Despite her words, Nia yawned as well. The two were camped out at the Raizen High School crater ruins under the cover of [White] in wait of Tohka's reappearance. Nearby, a collection of construction vehicles and piles of materials lay abandoned as the workers went for their lunch break. "Hey Kyo, are you sure she'll reappear here?"

"I've been right so far, haven't I?" Kyo stifled another yawn with a mouthful of raspberry juice.

Everything except how [Raziel] is capable of teleportation, Nia thought with a teasing smile plastered on her face. Glancing over at her, Kyo's face immediately darkened. 

"...I can tell exactly what you're thinking," he said sullenly. "I'm sorry, ok? Realizer tech makes literally no sense to my poor fresh-out-of-highschool brain."

"Alright, alright," Nia chuckled. "I'll get off your back. Oh look, it's the boy."

"Finally," Kyo sighed. "Well then, let's begin our stalking."

"Don't put it like that!"

————————I am the dividing line that skips time————————

"First stop, the bakery," Kyo pointed at a store across the street with a dramatic hand flourish. Tohka was pressed up against the window, completely captivated by the bread on display. "The place where an everlasting love began between one girl and one… type of bread." Shidou soon exited the store, carrying a small loaf in a bag.

"Soybean flour bread, huh?" Nia wondered aloud. "Does it really warrant the amount of drool waterfalling out of Tohka's mouth?" 

"Never tried it. Never will be able to try it," Kyo lamented as he tossed another raspberry into his mouth.

"Oh, right." Nia scratched her head sheepishly. Where does he keep pulling all these raspberry-flavored items out of?

"...but since you're so curious, let's go buy some," Kyo said as watched Shidou and Tohka leave. 

—————I am the dividing line that shifts time and perspective—————

"So, Tohka," Shidou began as they settled down on a bench, "what'd you do after all that stuff yesterday?"

"Nothing special," Tohka mumbled with her mouth full of ice cream. "They swung their dull swords and shot their sluggish bullets. They stopped when I eventually disappeared."

Eavesdropping from a neighboring bench, Kyo's face turned thoughtful. "I'd almost forgotten Spirits usually disappear after a while," he muttered to Nia. "Both you and Kurumi are seemingly able to completely ignore the call of the Neighboring World that Spirits return to after a time."

"Hm? Oh, that." Nia took a bite of her soybean flour bread, her face lighting up. "Mm, not bad! Ahem, uh, it took me a while, but through [Raziel], I managed to learn how to circumvent any impromptu disappearances."

"Makes sense." But what about me? I've disappeared only once, and I went to the Horizon of Existence when that happened. Is that my equivalent of the Neighboring World?

"Hey Kyo, they're leaving now," Nia reminded, stuffing the rest of the bread in her mouth. "Let's get going."

————————I am the dividing line that skips time————————

Kyo and Nia sat at a restaurant table, the latter glancing all over the establishment. "Wow, is this the entire Fraxinus crew? That's "Deep Love" Minowa at the bar, "Bad Marriage" Kawagoe… even the Commander's here?" Nia pointed out the few other people in the establishment besides Tohka and Shidou, noting their high positions in Ratatoskr.

"So you did end up researching them anyway," Kyo facepalmed. 

Nia ignored him. "Wow, look at that pile of food they got. Ratatoskr doesn't skimp on mission funding, huh. A tower of spaghetti, a giant roasted chicken, a strawberry cake even bigger than Kotori…"

Kyo buried his face in his hands. What I wouldn't give to taste any of those things again…

————————I am the dividing line that skips time————————

"Whoa." Nia stared in shock at the innumerable food stalls that had seemingly popped out nowhere, replacing what was once a quiet residential district with a bustling food market. The alluring aromas of all types of food, from roasting savory meats to baked sweets, filled the now-bustling street. A few dozen stalls ahead, Tohka was busy testing the limits of Ratatoskr's chefs, scarfing down meal after meal. Shidou followed en suite, looking rather tired.

"Ratatoskr basically owns Tengu City," Kyo explained. "They've even got ballistas hidden under some of these buildings."

"It really is impressive to see," Nia murmured. Her stomach rumbled. "Jeez, now I'm hungry again."

"Tell me about it," Kyo complained, setting the effect of [White] to just cloaking Reiryoku. "Surely they have something raspberry-flavored here. C'mon, let's get something to eat."

—————I am the dividing line that shifts time and perspective—————

"Commander, there's been a mishap," Kannazuki announced urgently.

"What's wrong? Is the soba noodle team still behind on schedule?" Kotori frowned. "I knew I should've sent-" 

"No, they've managed to catch back up," Kannazuki reported. "Actually, security footage has suddenly picked up [Sister] and someone who we assume is the boy Ms. Mitsuko talked about within a thirty meter radius of Shidou and Tohka. And that's not all." Kannazuki quickly brought up live footage of the two on a large holographic display. "We've discovered where Ms. Mitsuko recognized the boy from. It's-"

"[IX], the Inversed Spirit?!" Kotori nearly choked on her lollipop. "HE'S the one who's been living with [Sister]?" 

"It appears so," Kannazuki nodded. "We are still unable to detect any Spirit waves from [IX] or [Sister], so this is technically unconfirmed…"

"...but if the report saying [IX] can cover up their own energy signatures is true, then there's no way for us to know for sure," Kotori finished grimly. "Kannazuki, does Ms. Mitsuko have issues with memory? I find it hard to believe that any of our officers would fail to recognize such a dangerous figure."

"Er, she's approaching 89 this year," Kannazuki replied hesitantly.

"Shouldn't she be retired by now?" Kotori's eyes widened.

"Well, no one was willing to take up her post, since all signs of [Sister] went dark four years ago…" Kannazuki coughed awkwardly. Kotori sighed.

"Don't let those two interfere with Shidou's date. We can't have variables being introduced this late. But don't take any offensive action against them either, especially [IX]. We'll need to adjust Shido's date plans too. Also, get Ms. Mitsuko to stop sending those packages immediately and get the surveillance team to start on those cameras, pronto!"

—————I am the dividing line that shifts time and perspective—————

"I'm sorry sir, but our cakes are being freshly baked right now. If you're willing to wait just half an hour, we'd be happy to provide some other assorted snacks," a vendor replied with a professional smile.

"What about all those cakes?" Kyo pointed to the glass display case housing dozens of small raspberry cheesecakes.

"Ahem, those are all for display only," the vendor cheerfully replied.

"I… alright, thank you." Kyo bid the vendor a good day and went to find Nia.

——————I am the dividing line that shifts perspectives——————

"What do you mean a half hour-long wait?" Nia exclaimed incredulously.

"My apologies, miss, but we're run out of ingredients. However, we've already placed an order for more, which will be arriving in about thirty minutes. If you're willing to wait, we'd be happy to serve you for free," the vendor replied timidly. 

Nia sighed. "No, that's fine. I have to be somewhere else soon." What in the world is going on? This is the third stall I've been to that ran out of ingredients. Trudging away slowly, she turned a corner to find-

"A construction site?! I passed by this place two minutes ago! Agh, [Raziel]!" Flipping open the tome, Nia's face quickly turned into a scowl. "Ratatoskr!"