"Y-you're so noisy! My prophecies have come true before! And stop treating me like an idiot!"
Kaguya's cheeks flushed red as she protested in embarrassment.
"Request: Yuzuru requests that Kaguya provide a concrete example," Yuzuru said blandly.
"Heh… hehehe, like, that one time, you know… um… didn't I predict the weather for the next day or something?" Kaguya muttered awkwardly.
"Ridiculous. The great 'Mystic Eyes' are only good for that? That's laughable," Yuzuru said, then actually laughed, hand over her mouth, a fake smile full of mockery.
"Y-you—! I told you not to laugh!"
"Laughing."
"Uwaaah! You—! I'm warning you, you'd better not make me mad!"
"Pff~"
Yuzuru didn't budge at all, even letting out a small snicker.
"D-don't laugh, aaah!"
Kaguya finally couldn't take it anymore. She shouted, face burning bright red, spreading her arms wide.
The chains attached to her right hand and neck clanged sharply as they rattled.
The storm around them suddenly swelled again, winds surging violently.
Yuzuru mirrored her, taking up the same stance. The two locked eyes. The battle was one spark away from igniting.
"Sink into darkness! Haaah—!"
"Charge. Haa."
With a fierce shout and a limp little call, the two of them stomped the ground in unison and rushed straight at each other.
"…Hey, you two—am I invisible or something?" Shichen asked helplessly.
"W-what…?!"
"Report: There is someone here."
The two pulled up short less than a meter in front of Shichen, staring at him in surprise.
"There's a person here?! When did he get here? How did I not notice?!"
"Affirmation: It's shocking."
"I've been here the whole time, you know," Shichen said flatly.
"The whole time? Standing on our battlefield and not affected at all? You're… human, right?"
Kaguya stepped closer to him, studying him like he was some kind of rare creature.
"Amazement: Highly mysterious," Yuzuru agreed with a nod.
"You two… forget it. Just knock it off already. You've turned this whole island into a mess," Shichen said, shaking his head and giving up on explaining.
"A mess… ah!"
Kaguya finally glanced around and realized how wrecked everything looked.
Trash everywhere, toppled garbage cans, empty streets—it looked like some post-apocalyptic ghost town.
"Apologies. This is all Kaguya's doing," Yuzuru said, throwing her under the bus without hesitation.
"You were in it too, okay?!" Kaguya yelled back, face still red.
"Denial. If Kaguya hadn't started it, I wouldn't have fought back," Yuzuru replied, calm and logical.
"You…!" Kaguya was so angry she couldn't even string words together.
"All right, enough. Stop dumping everything on each other. You're both responsible," Shichen cut in.
"Hmph, at least you're fair. Not bad," Kaguya said, folding her arms and looking at him in satisfaction.
"You can shut up first, Miss Grade-A Chuuni," Shichen shot back.
"W-what chuuni! I'm not a chuuni!"
Kaguya's face turned scarlet as she denied it, mortified.
"Agreement: Kaguya is absolutely a chuuni. She just lacks self-awareness," Yuzuru added with a nod.
"Yuzuru, you… how can you side with this guy?!" Kaguya sputtered.
"Correction: This is not 'siding with the enemy.' It is 'sharing the same opinion,'" Yuzuru said.
"You…! Forget it! Who are you, anyway? Why did you interrupt our sacred duel of destiny?" Kaguya snapped, forcibly changing the subject, her chuunibyou tone half-baked and dramatic.
"Duel?" Shichen repeated.
"That's right! You dared to interrupt the sacred duel that will decide our fate. How do you plan to take responsibility for that?"
"Warning: Kaguya, that sounded like a threat," Yuzuru said.
"Shut it! It's finally going smoothly and you—"
"Request: What is Kaguya talking about?" Yuzuru asked.
"N-nothing at all!"
Kaguya turned around with her back to both Shichen and Yuzuru, sulking.
"So why are you two dueling, exactly?" Shichen asked, playing dumb.
"I already said it—it's about the fate between me and Yuzuru."
"What fate?"
"You're just a human, why do you ask so many questions? It has nothing to do with you!"
"No, it does have something to do with me. With me here, you two are not going to keep dueling," Shichen said, shaking his head.
"Hmm?"
Kaguya turned back toward him, eyes narrowing.
"You're just a human and you dare talk this big? Where do you get that confidence? You do know we're Spirits, right?"
"'Just Spirits.' I already have four Spirits around me," Shichen replied casually.
"What?"
Kaguya's eyes went wide.
"Confirmation: What you just said—is it true?"
Even Yuzuru's usually sleepy eyes sharpened with interest.
"Whether it's true or not, you'll see soon enough. I'm here to stop you—and to take you with me," Shichen said, looking back and forth between them, his tone turning serious.
"Take us…?"
Both girls eyed him warily.
"That's right. I'm part of an organization that protects Spirits. I'm going to bring you into a normal life—and protect you," Shichen said.
"Protect us…"
Kaguya and Yuzuru glanced at each other—then both burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! You're going to protect us?"
"What, you don't believe me?"
"That's not the point. If you really do already have four Spirits with you, then I believe you. But we don't need your protection!"
Kaguya's tone suddenly shifted. The chains on her right arm and neck rattled loudly, and behind her the winds surged again, roaring to life.
"Agreement: Yuzuru and Kaguya must settle this once and for all," Yuzuru said, adopting the same stance. Storms began to whirl up on both sides.
Shichen stood in the middle like the calm eye of it all, completely unaffected.
"Settle what you are? Your 'identity'? Even if that's what you want, with me here, you're not going to get anything done," he said.
"You're totally clueless about your place—what—?"
Kaguya's words died mid-sentence.
Because once again, the winds around them vanished. The air went completely still. Not even a leaf stirred.
"Amazement: What is that behind him?" Yuzuru exclaimed.
Behind Shichen, a massive silver figure was slowly taking shape. Its body resembled a giant bird, aura imposing and divine.
Kaguya and Yuzuru stared, suddenly realizing that the presence radiating from it felt very familiar.
Their bodies refused to move.
"So, do you two still want to duel?" Shichen asked with a smile.
"Who are you really? And what is that?" Kaguya demanded warily.
"You don't need to worry about who it is. All you need to know is that with me around, you won't be able to do anything," Shichen said.
"Understanding: No wonder you're so confident," Yuzuru murmured.
"So be good girls and come with me."
"No way! I won't just let this go! I have to settle this with Yuzuru!"
Kaguya shook her head fiercely—her tone less resolved and more… obsessed.
"Your little deathmatch is heavily disrupting human lives. You don't feel even a little guilty about that?" Shichen shot back.
"We haven't hurt anyone. This is our first time deciding things by fighting…"
"Then use something else to decide it. As long as I'm here, you can forget about settling anything with brute force."
"We don't have another way to—wait!"
Kaguya stared at him, eyes suddenly lighting up. She smiled, a plan clearly forming in her head.
"Haha, that's right. If we can't use force with you here, there's always another way… Huh. You actually look pretty good."
She started talking to herself while openly sizing Shichen up, nodding to herself with an oddly satisfied expression.
Then she turned to Yuzuru and gave her the same full up-and-down inspection, nodding again, eyes gleaming with approval.
"Question: Kaguya, what exactly are you doing?" Yuzuru asked, frowning.
"Humph~ Yuzuru, this queen has just thought of a very good way to duel."
"Confusion: A very good way?"
"That's right! We've already tried all sorts of battles between us, and we can't think of any new methods. However—"
Kaguya suddenly pivoted, grinning as she looked at Shichen. "Did you know? There's still one field where we haven't decided a winner?"
"Question: A field where we haven't decided a winner… What do you mean, Kaguya?" Yuzuru tilted her head, looking adorably lost.
"Hehehe~"
Kaguya only smirked, staring at Shichen with meaningful eyes.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" he asked.
"Can we trust this man?" Kaguya suddenly asked.
"You can always trust me," Shichen answered confidently.
"In that case… Yuzuru, we're both girls in the springtime of our youth, aren't we? Isn't there something… we still haven't experienced?"
"Surprised: You don't mean…"
"Exactly! I mean falling in love!"
"..."
Shichen and Yuzuru both went silent at the same time.
Kaguya didn't care. She kept going, eyes shining. "This guy doesn't look bad at all. How about we compete in charm and let him decide who wins?"