Unexpected Encounter with Two Girls

"Stop. Turn around, and… place your head on your hands." The clear, melodious voice rang out from behind.

"What?"

Place my head on my hands? What kind of command was that?

Kaguya was momentarily stunned, thinking she'd misheard. The girl behind her seemed to notice her own mistake but didn't look even slightly embarrassed. Instead, she stayed expressionless, as if nothing had happened.

"Put your hands on your head," the silver-haired girl repeated, her tone firmer this time. Her finger rested lightly on the trigger, her sharp eyes never leaving Kaguya.

"Alright, alright, don't shoot."

Kaguya slowly raised her hands, pretending to comply.

"Turn around," ordered the silver-haired girl coolly.

Following her directions, Kaguya turned slowly. As her face came into view, the silver-haired girl blinked, slightly dazed by Kaguya's striking features. She hesitated for a moment, furrowing her brows, her thoughts unreadable.

Kaguya, meanwhile, sized up this silver-haired girl. Her face was indeed beautiful, framed by short silver hair adorned with two hairpins, and her light-green eyes were as cold as ice. Her skin was smooth and flawless, and she had a slender frame that still hinted at her curves, enhanced by her AST gear.

"And who are you?" The girl's voice was low and cautious after a brief pause.

"Oh, I'm nobody special. Just… a local resident." Kaguya smiled, fibbing without missing a beat.

"A resident?" The silver-haired girl's gaze swept over her skeptically. "Show me your ID."

"Sorry, I left it at home," Kaguya answered, still smiling politely. She didn't have any kind of ID from this world. Well, unless she pulled out her Shinobi ID, which would probably earn her a bullet to the head.

"Where do you live? I'll go with you to retrieve it," the silver-haired girl said in an even tone, her gun still aimed at Kaguya, showing she had no intention of letting her go.

"Wait a minute," Kaguya replied, frowning. "I'm not exactly committing any crime here, am I?"

"During a spacequake, everyone is required to evacuate to a shelter," the girl stated. "And your behavior is suspicious. Unless you have a good reason, you'll be classified as a potential Spirit."

"Spirit?" Kaguya raised a brow. "Sorry, I'm definitely not a Spirit. Maybe you've made a mistake."

No wonder this young girl was on her case—she was clearly part of the AST. They must have mistaken Kaguya for a Spirit and followed her all the way here. Of course, Kaguya had no intention of carrying that label. If people saw her as a Spirit, she'd have this team and others like it on her back constantly, and she wasn't interested in that hassle. She'd rather avoid exposing her strength outright, as that would only further convince them she was something supernatural.

"It'll be clear at the base whether you're a Spirit or not," the silver-haired girl said calmly. "Come with me. If you're clean, you'll be released without any trouble."

Yeah, right. She could already imagine being taken to the AST base and, possibly, subjected to tests. Not that she would end up as some lab specimen—more likely, the base would end up in pieces.

Wanting to avoid complications, Kaguya decided it was best to keep her abilities hidden. She'd have to put the girl to sleep using genjutsu. Her eyes narrowed in concentration.

The silver-haired girl seemed to sense something and tightened her grip on her gun, finger resting on the trigger, ready to shoot at the slightest movement from Kaguya.

At that moment, a lively voice called out, startling them both.

"Onee-chan! Where'd you go? Seriously, I've been looking all over for you! Did you sneak off to meet your boyfriend again?" A twin-tailed girl with pink hair bounded over from behind.

Her twin tails were adorned with black-and-red hair ornaments. She had delicate brows, clear crimson eyes, and a dainty face. Her complexion was smooth and fair, her figure slender and taut. She wore a black-and-red school uniform with a short red skirt, long black stockings, and red-and-black shoes. She was an exceptionally beautiful girl, exuding an aura of youthful energy that could melt anyone's heart.

While Kaguya stood there dazed, the girl dashed forward and hugged her, clinging tightly. "I finally found you! I was so worried something might have happened to you," she whimpered, even sniffling a little.

"Huh?"

Kaguya was bewildered. Wasn't this girl mistaking her for someone else? Still, the warmth of her soft, delicate form pressed against her made Kaguya reluctant to pull away.

The pink-haired girl wiped nonexistent tears from her eyes, sneaking Kaguya a wink, and Kaguya finally understood.

"I went to the store to grab a few things," Kaguya replied, her face showing a mixture of embarrassment and sincerity. "I was on my way home as quickly as I could, but I was a bit delayed. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just glad you're alright!" The twin-tailed girl's pretty eyes sparkled, and she beamed with joy.

Kaguya couldn't help but admire her acting—she'd nearly been fooled herself.

"Kotori Itsuka, I don't recall you having an older sister," the silver-haired girl said, expressionless and skeptical.

"Distant relative," the twin-tailed girl, Kotori, answered smoothly. "She's only just moved here, so of course you wouldn't know her yet, Tobiichi Origami."

Hearing this, Kaguya blinked in surprise. She glanced at the beautiful silver-haired girl, then at the pretty twin-tailed girl clinging to her. She'd just arrived, yet already encountered two characters straight from the anime. It was almost too perfect to be true.

"Just carrying out my duty, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't interfere," Tobiichi Origami said coolly. "According to protocol, I have the authority to handle unknown individuals as I see fit, and you have no right to intervene."

"And I suppose you count me as one of those 'unknown individuals,' too?" Kotori Itsuka scoffed, clearly displeased.

"No. Since she's a friend of yours," Tobiichi finally lowered her weapon, casting Kaguya a quick glance. "When a spacequake alarm goes off, if you value your life, you'd be better off heading to a shelter."

"Well, that's considerate of you," Kotori huffed.

Origami gave a small frown, said nothing more, then turned and took off. With a quick step and a blast of exhaust from her AST equipment, she shot into the sky, flying off into the distance.

So these two know each other? Kaguya had thought they'd be strangers.

"Thanks for that," Kaguya turned to Kotori, smiling.

Kotori's cheerful expression faded. She gave Kaguya a once-over before saying flatly, "You're a Spirit, aren't you?"

Kaguya blinked, then smiled. "What makes you say that? How could I be a Spirit? Come on, don't joke around."

"Then, care to explain this?" Kotori took out a small, pink smartphone and handed it to Kaguya. "Don't tell me you don't recognize the person in this picture."

On the screen was an image of a dark, shadowy realm—an alternate space, it seemed—with a figure floating outside of it. Judging from the figure's shape and the curves visible beneath her attire, she was a woman wearing a fox mask that concealed her face.

"And what's this?" Kaguya asked innocently. "Are you suggesting this person is me? That's impossible. You must be joking."

"I'm not joking." Kotori's lips curled into a confident smile. "I wouldn't be bringing it up if I weren't certain. If you confess now, it'll go easier for you."

"I don't know why you'd think that," Kaguya replied, "but I'm definitely not the Spirit you think I am."

Technically, she wasn't lying—she wasn't precisely a Spirit. Although her powers surpassed a Spirit's, her nature was different, like comparing pineapples to soursop; similar in some ways, but not the same thing.

"So, you're sticking to that story?" Kotori smirked, her pretty eyes narrowing. "Then let me tell you something: if you're going to hide, at least try a little harder. You could have changed out of that outfit first! Did you think I wouldn't notice? Still going to deny it now?" She finished with a triumphant grin.

Kaguya felt a momentary jolt—she hadn't even thought about that earlier. She'd masked her face with the fox mask but left her clothes unchanged from her last encounter. No wonder Kotori had noticed; her outfit was a dead giveaway. Now she figured that might be why Tobiichi had zeroed in on her as well. Though Origami probably recognized her in the end, so why did she let her go?

"All Spirits are beautiful young women," Kotori said, eyes glimmering with intrigue, "with a charm that's just out of reach for the average person. If you weren't a Spirit, well, that'd just be a waste."

"Alright," Kaguya replied thoughtfully. "But if you believe I'm a Spirit, aren't you afraid I'll hurt you?"

"So you finally admit it, huh?" Kotori's smile became a dangerous smirk, her eyes flickering with a flash of hostility. "Good. In that case—die!"

"Huh?"

Kaguya was caught off guard by the sudden hostility. Where did this come from? What had she done to make Kotori so hostile?

A blinding pillar of light shot down from the sky, so hot that the clouds themselves parted, and hurtled straight toward Kaguya like a bolt of lightning.

Boom!

A deafening explosion tore through the area. A shockwave mixed with scorching heat blasted outward like a tsunami, leveling the nearby buildings and turning the ground to rubble. The rock beneath them cracked and splintered, and debris flew through the air as fire roared skyward, filling the area with thick black smoke and the stinging scent of burnt debris.

When the smoke finally began to clear, a massive crater nearly a hundred meters across was visible. The ground around it had melted from the intense heat, forming a crystalline glass-like surface. At the center of the crater sat a large black sphere, miraculously intact amid the devastation. Though visibly cracked and fractured, pieces crumbling away, it had somehow withstood the attack.

The sphere was none other than Kaguya's Truth-Seeking Ball.

As the cracked orb shattered with a series of sharp cracks, Kaguya emerged unscathed from within.

She looked up, her gaze scanning the sky, frowning slightly. The attack just now must have been a blast from the airship Fraxinus. She hadn't expected the blast's power to be this overwhelming, nearly equivalent to a Tailed Beast Bomb. And the intense heat was surprising. Only by channeling her energy into the Truth-Seeking Ball at the last second had she stabilized it enough to withstand the force of the blast. Otherwise, she might have actually been injured.

Yet more than Fraxinus's firepower, Kaguya was concerned with Kotori Itsuka. The hostility Kotori displayed seemed particularly intense.

Wait—no, it wasn't personal hostility toward Kaguya herself. It was hostility toward Spirits in general. The more Kotori talked about Spirits, the stronger her anger and resentment grew. Kaguya had mistaken that reaction for excitement or fascination, but now she realized it was resentment.

But why? What was this all about? Kaguya couldn't wrap her head around it.

Just then, another blazing light streaked through the sky, its searing heat bearing down on her once more.

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