Vol 2 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1: shi+dou Hunters

“HaaHaa”

Leaning his back against the wall in the dark alleyway, Itsuka shi+dou was currently panting with slight pain

The shopping bags that he had held with both hands, were now shi+fted into his arms with the least noise made, he peeked out to survey the situation at the road with a panicked expression

Obviously, shi+dou was not doing this because he wanted to be a ninja, he wasn’t hiding here because he liked to hide at a corner of the street shi+dou had his reasons for doing so

Frowning as he listened closely with his ears, he could hear yells from the street similar to that of primal roars

“——Where is he! Where did he go!?”

“Over there! Don’t let him escape!”

“Alalright!”

“”

At the sa in on shi+dou

That’s right shi+dou was currently being hunted by several people

“W-whatin the world is going on!”

shi+dou let out a wailing sound as he hugged the shopping bags tight, all the while holding on to the fact that he must evacuate as soon as possible

However, at that instant, a girl showed herself in front of shi+dou

With a head of hair as dark as night as well as crystal-clear eyes, she was an extreirl However those beautiful eyes of her were currently gloith predation

“! I found you, shi+dou!”

The girl——Yatoga towards him

“T-Tohka!?”

shi+dou couldn’t help but hold his breath, hastily changing direction for the road

“Hold on! Why are you running away!”

“That’s because you people wouldn’t stop chasingto do!”

“That’s because——Haa!”

Just when shi+dou had ran out froround, pouncing up high

“Wa, aah!?”

If the er of the track club were to be on scene, she would undoubtedly be scouted to join the long juht onto the centre of the road

“This is great, I’ve finally caught you, shi+dou!”

Saying that she flipped shi+dou’s body over, changing into aposition as she stared directly into shi+dou’s eyes

Following that——she opened her ly excited

“Come, let’s——kiss!”

It was the evening of a rando district that was croith people

Tohka said that line

“HaHaa!?”

shi+dou couldn’t help but widen his eyes, replying

“Kikiss?”

“That’s right! A kiss!”

Although Tohka’s cheeks were slowly turning red, however she still replied in a loud voice, reaffir her head

Looking at this scene, the crowd that gathered started to beco a battle scene on the street, then shouting so a kiss It would be weird if they did not attract any attention

shi+dou embarrassedly looked around hi to calm Tohka down

“T-TohkaFirst of all, can you please calm down, please?”

“I can’t! There’s not much time left for useless chatter! Come, let’s kiss!”

Tohka tightly held down shi+dou’s wrist,his

“H-hold on”

Why in the world is that happeningshi+dou recalled today’s flow of events as he felt Tohka’s breathing on his skin

——Roughly an hour ago before all of this started

shi+dou was going to the shopping district in order to buy ingredients for dinner

He did not have any people acco him today, it was only shi+dou Usually his little sister Kotori as well as Tohka who lived next door would co, but they stayed at horam on the television

“Well thenwhat shall I ht?”

He redients

It could be because it was the weekends, there were a large amount of people out on the streets Housewives that caredients for dinner like shi+dou, the elderly who came out for a walk, as well as people who came here just to look around

Just as shi+dou was coer with stea froht

[——Next up are people with the initials S•I You will know today who the destined one in your life is Whether it will be a whole new encounteror whether it is so all of that is——]

It see from one of the televisions fro a hood to cover her eyes as she used her hands to hold the crystal ball It see

Speaking of which, Kotori would always read up on her blood type horoscope, her star sign horoscope and , a true horoscope maniac Just maybe the channel that Kotori wanted to watch was this one

At this

“Now that I think of it the remote seemed to be out of electricity”

Saying that, shi+dou stepped into the store Although it was different froe retail store which sells all kinds of appliances, that specializes in fixing the household appliances, it should have batteries for sale

“Hm”

It was just as he had thought, there was a counter that had all sorts of batteries at the wall Taking out a pack that had four AA batteries, he went to foot the bill

“That’s right, speaking of which”

shi+douout of the store The reason for that was due to hi channel just now

People with initials S•Ithe fortune teller had indeed said that

shi+dou’s last name was Itsuka That means he had the initials S•I

“Really now, if I’d known earlier I would have listened more closely”

Sed his shoulders

Even though he said that, shi+dou was not that into horoscopes like Kotori, nor did he believe in this sort of activities Thus it did not affect hi district

After walking around the street for approxi the ingredients for tonight’s dinner

The ti soon

He had taken up more time than he had expected He would be delayed if he did not hurry up and go home to prepare dinner

What’s left is the stationary that was used up He better head straight hoht, with that shi+dou increased his pace

——At that moment

“Hm?”

shi+dou suddenly stopped A fa in front of him

A girl with an elegant and thin figure, shoulder-length hair as well as a doll-like face Looking like a doll, it has the dual ant looks, at the same time it could be used to describe her lack of expression

That’s right Standing right there was Tobi+chi Origami—— shi+dou’s classmate

“Eh, Origa too?”

“That is correct”

“Is that so I’et stationary, see you next time”

shi+dou waved his hand as he continuedforward

After that, sorabbed his wrist from behind, shi+dou involuntarily stopped

“That hurts, i-is so?”

At shi+dou’s question, Origath that one could simply not believe that it ca

“Come over here for a second”

“Ah?”

shi+dou couldn’t help but widen his eyes at the sudden developarab hold of shi+dou’s hand, going against the human traffic flow

“Wah, h-hold on will you? If I don’t get home soon”

“It’ll be over soon”

Origami did not care as she pulled shi+dou into a deserted alley, pressing shi+dou against the wall, placing both her hands next to his head just like she was blocking off shi+dou’s escape routeit just feels that the gender roles have been swapped around

However shi+dou currently did not have the leisure of being able to point out that fact Origa her face closer

“O- Origami!?”

“All you have to do is just don’t move from there It’ll be over soon if you are obedient”

“U-umthat’s”

Cold sweat kept fora Slowly, but surely she brought her face closer till the point where even her breath could be felt on his——

“Ah—! Wh-what are you doing here!”

At that moment, he heard a familiar voice, from the direction of the street

“Eh?”

shi+dou opened his eyes in shock In the next instant, an ar them instantly

“Are you alright, shi+dou!”

“T-Tohka?”

That’s right The one who appeared was Tohka as supposed to be staying at home

“Tobi+chi Origa-awaited school holiday and I can’t believe s in a place like this! I can’t really relax when you are involved!”

“That’s o Even termites are cuter than you are”

“W-what did you say!”

Tohka becaed, these two people really are incompatible

However that can’t be helped After all a few months back, these tere still at each other’s throats, ai to take each other’s life

In truth Tohka was not human

A special disaster designated lifeforht about by the world An existence collectively known as Spirits

Currently they have only sealed her power via a certain ular humanHowever her relationshi+p with the anization that aiami, has always been bad

Despite saying that he can’t just let the two of theh trying to get Tohka’s attention

“Tohka Why are you here?”

“! Oooh, I reaht now”

Tohka nodded her head hard, after that revealing a sharp glare, suddenly bounding over towards shi+dou

“Waah!?”

shi+dou evaded with centimetres to spare Tohka crashed directly into the here shi+dou was at moments before due to inertia

“Guwah! Uu, uuuhshi+dou why did you dodge?”

“That’s my line! Why did you suddenly”

At that ami who had just been forcibly pulled away by Tohka threw a razor-sharp glare at shi+dou Almost at the saain turned to look at shi+dou

“Thisthis is”

Tohka and Origairls, shi+dou couldn’t help but take a step back

What exactly happened to these two? Although it was true that both of them normally had already done many activities that were incomprehensible, but the two of theht now

“shi+dou!”

At this moment, he heard a familiar voice call out to him from behind

Turning to look in the direction of the voice he sao petite girls standing there They were a strong-looking girl with her long hair tied up with two black ribbons and a tie hat as well as a rabbit puppet in her left hand

That’s right They were Kotori and Yoshi+no as supposed to be staying in the Itsuka residence while they wait for shi+dou to return

“Kotori, Yoshi+no!”

Wary of Tohka and Origami, shi+dou retreated one inch at a time as he asked the two behind him

“Hey, hey, what’s thehere”

In

The reason for that was simple Kotori as well as the obedient Yoshi+no behind hi at shi+dou

“Yoshi+no Let’s form a temporary alliance”

“Eh? Ah, o-okay!”

“Move to his front You have to capture shi+dou before Tobi+chi Origami makes her move!”

“A-alright”

“Wha!?”

shi+dou couldn’t help but widen his eyes But that was to be expected Since Kotori and Yoshi+no too were slowly edging closer like beasts

“H-hold on! What is going on here!”

“You don’t need to know You just have to let us catch you that’s all”

“You have to give me a reason at least——”

“Haa!”

Kotori coed directly for hi shi+dou barely evaded her assault with a hair’s breadth

Nor to shi+dou with their body size However for some reason he could instinctively detect a sense of terror, hence shi+dou ran into a ss

“Ah, shi+dou!”

“TchWe’re going after him, Tohka, Yoshi+no!”

After shi+dou’s successful escape, such cries could be heard from behind him

——And so, the series of events led right up till here

Even though he recalled the whole incident, he still could not comprehend the reason for their pursuit shi+dou on the other hand was being pressed down onto the ground by Tohka, he turned his confused thoughts into that of a groan

“Wait, wait a second! Why do you suddenly want to kiss!”

“Hm? That’s because ——”

“Wa——!”

Just as Tohka was about to reply, Kotori ran up froaed Tohka off shi+dou’s body by the face, Yoshi+no on the other hand pulled shi+dou’s hand and helped him to his feet

It was done so perfectly as though they had practiced it before arriving

“Puhaaa, hat are you trying to do!”

After Tohka shook Origalare to express her hostility as she locked eyes with her At thisto Tohka

“Hm? Was that a secret? Why?”

“Why you sayThat’s because, that is, if shi+dou were to know about it then it would lose it’s effectiveness”

“I-is that so! That would be horrible”

Even though it was supposed to be whispering, their voices are loud After the conversation was over, Tohka turned to face shi+dou again

“Due to some reasons I can’t tell you ButI hope that we can kiss”

“U some reason that you can’t tell me, that’s a little unreasonable”

“We can’t? shi+dou ”

“Uuh”

Tohka showed an expression of al in tearsshi+dou was at a loss as to what to do, sweat formed on his face

“That’sI, didn’t say, that we can’tdo it”

“! Really! You’re really willing to kiss me!?”

“U-um”

shi+dou looked around hi a troubled expression on his face

Shouting about wanting a kiss or the like in the middle of the street was bound to attract the attention of everyone passing by Children kept pointing their fingers over in confusion,so Furthermore, there are a lot of people that he knows in this street If things were to continue to escalate any further, he would no longer have any face left to come back here, thus he has to avoid that at all costs

He stll can’t forget that, three major problems still lay in wait

Kotori as folding her arlances in his direction, Yoshi+no who kept gazing at hi unable to cal off an enormous pressure that seems like she would rip out Tohka’s throat with her teeth immediately if she were to carry out the act on the spot

Under the different stares of the three, shi+dou involuntarily gulped

“W-why don’t we do it like this? If you will be a good girl for a day, then as a reward”

“Hm?”

At shi+dou’s suggestion, Tohka widened her eyes in excitement

“GahIf I becoirl for today, you will kiss me?”

“Y-yeah What do you think?”

“Mirl!”

Tohka nodded her head as she exuberantly revealed a bright sh of relief

Although he still did not solve anything, but at least he had averted the worst case scenario for now Leaving Kotori and Yoshi+no aside first, if he were to kiss Tohka in front of Origaine ould happen next

In order to investigate Origahtlyinadvertentlyher eyes

“A oes to show that she’s not taking this seriously”

Contrary to what she said, Origa tone to shi+dou On the other hand, shi+dou was showing a weak s down his back

Howeverit is true that he currently cannot let himself relax Since he was still unclear as to why they are hunting him down

“Speaking of which, you girlsWhy are you people chasing me?”

At shi+dou’s words, Kotori’s eyebroitched

“R-really now,we just wanted to see if we could help you carry the ingredients after ere done watching television See, you bought quite a lot Isn’t that right, Yoshi+no?”

“Eh?”

Yoshi+no’s eyes widened due to Kotori suddenly shi+fting the target of the conversation to her

“Isn’t that right?”

“U-umy-yeahthat’s how it is”

“”

Even though it was highly suspicious, but since Yoshi+no had already said so then it h shi+dou still had his suspicions, but he decided to leave them for now

“W-well thenlet’s go and buy the re items then”

“Right——then, Tohka and Yoshi+no let’s get ”

Listening to Kotori, the two girls followed behind shi+dou For so as well

“Origami?”

“——I’ to buy similar stuff”

“D-don’t joke around!”

Hearing Origa both fists, she stared daggers at Origami

“Why are you following us! Can’t you go off alone!”

“If I should say, your existence is the one that is inexplainable Why do you have to go along with shi+dou If you have nothing to do then you should hurry up and go home pussy, Go Home”

“What did you say!”

Tohka hatefully stoami

“Tobi+chi Origami Don’t tell me, you watched that channel too”

“”

Origa Kotori’s words

Although it was unclear how Kotori interpreted her reaction, she pointed the Chupa Chups in her

Rather Tohka was still in a fit of rage, her breathing was accelerating as well shi+dou hastily stepped in-between them

“Well, don’t be angry We could all go together? Right?”

“Gah”

“”

Although Tohka did seehed, Origami on the other hand remained silent as she turned to look away Looks like the two finally decided to listen to shi+dou

“That’s how it is going to be, are the two of you alright with this?”

Saying that he turned to look at Kotori and Yoshi+no Kotori frowned unhappily, Yoshi+no on the other hand pressed down the hat’s bria, these two really are unwilling to be with Origami

But that was so that can’t be helped After all Kotori, Yoshi+no and Tohka once possessed the power of the spirits, having battled with Origami before

But the two of them were not kids that would openly express their displeasure Kotori showed an expression that it couldn’t be helped, Yoshi+no however hesitated before nodding

“HmphWell, it doesn’t matter It would bother me more if I couldn’t keep track of her”

“I-I’mfine withit”

“Yeah, thank you”

After shi+dou heaved a sigh of relief, all of theether

However, the underlying problem was not solved at all

If one were to look at the time, it would seem that not even 10 h he had been wandering about in the scorching desert for several hours

The reason for that was extremely simple

“”

Forward, behind, left, right

Kotori, Origa around shi+dou, giving off an abnormal pressure

More accurately, Tohka was only focused on being wary of Origami as usual, but the other three were definitely different fro at shi+dou’s direction It was as though they were ferocious beasts that aiting for their prey to reveal a moment’s weakness

“J-just what is going on with you all……”

Just as shi+dou was proceeding forhilst being enveloped with a massive sense of panic, he heard a ht side

[Like I said, it’s a no go if you are not proactive—You have to be like this]

“EhB-butI can’t reach”

It see to her rabbit puppet [Yoshi+non] Although he couldn’t catch what they were talking about, he knows for sure that [Yoshi+non] was currently encouraging Yoshi+no to do so

[It’s al——right it’s al——right, there’s no problem at all]

“I-is that so”

After that the duo continued to chat for a while longer, before Yoshi+no, with some hesitation, seehtly her head——

“Waa”

She gave a sharp cry before falling to the ground

“Yoshi+no? Are you alright?”

shi+dou looked at Yoshi+no, squatting down and extending his hand towards her

“Give ht?”

“AhY-yesthank you very much”

Saying that, Yoshi+no took hold of shi+dou’s hand

At that instant, [Yoshi+non] as on Yoshi+no’s left hand said in a low voice

[Yoshi+no! Do it now!]

“! U-umNn”

Yoshi+no nodded her head after being encouraged by [Yoshi+non], getting back on her feet all the while rip on shi+dou’s hand

Just like that she neared shi+dou’s face as stillposition——

Chu

What Yoshi+no’s lips had made contact with

—— was Origaotten between the two of them

“Eh”

Yoshi+no widened her eyes due to extreme shock

Following that, Origami swiftly took the hand that Yoshi+no had held shi+dou’s with, helping Yoshi+no to pat the dust off her skirt

“Origami?”

shi+dou widened his eyes in mild disbelief

That was cos to the AST Although Yoshi+no’s spiritual wavelength could not be read, but the relationshi+p between the tas rather hostile——To be honest, one of the reasons why shi+dou let Origah constant interaction, hopefully their relationshi+p would turn for the better

——Don’t tell ami is worried about Yoshi+no?

shi+dou observed the two froami on the other hand spoke to Yoshi+no

“It’ll be dangerous, if you are not careful”

Eami patted Yoshi+no’s head with her hat still on

For soentle, but her tone see Yoshi+no, as being patted on the head by Origami, on the other hand was terrified to the point of speechlessness; her body treh she was a puppy drenched by the rain

“U-um”

“Let’s continue walking”

Just as sweat formed on shi+dou’s face as he was at a loss as to what to do, Origa hi him to do so

A while later, just as shi+dou was forced to continue walking forhilst feeling a strong anxiety, someone tapped his shoulder from behind

“Hm?”

Who could that be shi+dou stopped and turned behind him——

“Uwah!?”

shi+dou cried out as he cringed

In that instant he turned around, his vision was occupied by Origami’s countenance It seems that she had tapped his shoulder fro

“Gah”

Origami expressionlessly continued to lean closer Due to the sudden situation, shi+dou’s brain was thrown into disarray; as a result shi+dou was unable to extract himself out of his predicament when he could have

Before Origami’s lips could touch shi+dou’s lips——

——his sleeve was violently pulled with a jerk, shi+dou’s body was sent reeling backwards

“Wah”

After his body violently rocked back and forth, he knelt on the floor on one knee Hastily glancing at his sleeve, he saw Kotori as in front of hi the sleeve of his shi+rt

“Ara, what sort of business do you have with my Onii-chan, Tobi+chi-san?”

“”

Kotori revealed a heroic se in her expressionsBut he could so from behind her

“Well then, let us move on You better buck up, shi+dou”

“I got it already”

After Kotori helped shi+dou to his feet while patting the dust away froroup continued to move forward

A few minutes later This tilance at shi+dou

“Kotori? Is so?”

“Eh? About thatyeah, I just re I needed to tell you”

“So you needed to tell mewhat is it?”

At shi+dou’s sentence, Kotori looked around her once before quietlyfor him to come closer

“Can you bring your ear closer?”

Kotori lowered her head slightly, her cheeks were painted with a slight shade of red

Although he felt suspicious as it was not like Kotori to do so——shi+dou quickly understood her intentions at once

It could be so related to <ratatoskr> If that were to be the case, it would be rather inappropriate for her to speak aloud since Origami is present

“Yeah, alright”

Saying that he bent down slightly, leaning his ear towards Kotori

Kotori’s face took on a deeper shade of red, she pressed her mouth towards shi+dou’s ear

In that instant shi+dou’s cheeks felt a soft sensation

That’s right That sensation, Kotori’s lips, they were——

Totally different, it had a different kind of feel to it

“Hm?”

Turning to the side due to suspicion He discovered the white head of a rabbit puppet beside him It was Yoshi+no who had placed her left hand in between shi+dou and Kotori

[Really now, Kotori-chan you’re too secretive, what is it? Can you tell Yoshi+non too—]

“Ugu”

Having being obstructed by [Yoshi+non], Kotori grit her teeth in frustration Yoshi+no, in contrast, turned her eyes to the side

“Hey, Yoshi+non How could you interrupt Kotori while she was talkingWell then, Kotori, what exactly did you want to tell me?”

“It’s alright We’ll talk about it next time”

“Eh? Wasn’t it soent?”

“It’s fine, it’s nothing now It’s not soent to that extent”

“I-is that so?”

Kotori turned her face aside, folding her arms, at the sa crunched

Conversely, [Yoshi+non] returned to Yoshi+no, n In response, Yoshi+no’s shoulders trembled with panic

What is going on here, although he did not know the exact reason for it, but he could feel that there was currently a furious offensive-defensive match around him

“Just what on earth is happening”

shi+dou silently mumbled to himself with unease

30for quite so the stationary store, shi+dou and the group finally went on their journey home

It was needless to say that after the incident, Kotori, Origami as well as Yoshi+no still continued their three-sided h he still did not know the reason for theoals, but it was a silent battle that was full of tension shi+dou as dragged into it for some reason, was as tired as Urashi+ma Tarou who had opened the tamatebako

“U-uami We live over here, so”

They had finally arrived at the T-junction which separates the Itsuka residence froami’s home, shi+dou said wearily

Instantly, Kotori scoffed in triuhed in relief