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[System Message: AA Kirisame Magic Shop has exited the chat.]
"Strange," Leo frowned at his phone. "Why did Marisa hang up? Is she in a hurry?"
How dare a mere golden-haired tool-person hang up on a client? Where is the customer service? If this were a gacha game, her Affection Points would be plummeting!
The rain outside lessened to a drizzle. Leo sighed. If he had known, he would have stayed in bed.
Wait. No.
The bed was currently occupied by Flandre Scarlet.
Leo had witnessed Flandre's sleeping posture. It couldn't be described as "restless." It was "catastrophic."
Her ability, Four of a Kind, seemed to be passive. She slept as four separate entities.
Imagine four children sleeping in one bed, limbs sprawled everywhere, tangled like cheap earphones in a pocket. Leo had tried to join them once. After being kicked by eight little feet simultaneously, he gave up and slept on the floor.
Bored, Leo wandered around the bus.
On his first day here, he was too panicked to look closely. Now, he realized the bus was in decent condition. The windshield was cracked and the bumper dented, but Nitori could fix that. If she could build a nuclear reactor with a screwdriver, she could fix a bus.
This replaces the Desert Bus.
In the game, the bus only went to the Desert. But here? There were no tracks. A fixed bus meant freedom. He could drive anywhere.
"Eh?"
Leo spotted something under a seat.
A purple oil-paper umbrella.
"Why is there an umbrella here? I don't remember seeing this before."
Leo picked it up. It was a classic style, often seen in Hanfu photoshoots. Practical and aesthetic.
Perfect. I can use this to block the rain.
He raised the umbrella.
Slurp~ Slurp~
A large mouth quietly opened on the surface of the umbrella. A thick, fleshy tongue extended and licked the back of Leo's head like a lollipop.
"I'm so hateful~~ Hehehe! Were you scared?"
A girl dropped out from the inside of the umbrella. She had heterochromatic eyes—one red, one blue.
"..."
Leo stood frozen, holding the umbrella handle, staring blankly ahead.
"Why aren't you speaking?" The girl pouted. Her excitement dimmed. "Alright... it seems I didn't scare anyone again. Give me back the umbrella. I'll try harder next time."
She reached out to take the umbrella.
It didn't move. Leo's grip was like iron.
"Hey! Adult! Give it back!"
Tatara Kogasa pulled. She tugged.
"Isn't this just an old thing you discarded? Why do you want it now? Too late! If you don't give it back, I'll get angry! I'm very scary when I'm angry!"
She puffed up her cheeks and yanked. The umbrella—and the stiff human attached to it—didn't budge.
"Hey... are you okay?"
Kogasa poked Leo's face. No reaction.
She panicked.
I wanted to scare him, not kill him!
If she pulled a prank, Byakuren would just lecture her. If she killed a human, Reimu would send her to meet the Yama.
"One-Eyed Kogasa! Use Lick!"
The umbrella in Leo's hand opened a giant eye. Its tongue lashed out, slapping Leo across the face.
SLURP.
The wet sensation hit Leo's reset button.
"GASHHH!"
Leo sucked in a massive breath, his soul returning to his body.
"Holy crap! I felt like I just got executed by the Twins in Dead by Daylight!"
He looked down.
The umbrella stared back at him with a soulful, happy eye.
Slurp.
It licked his face again.
"AHHHH!"
Leo let out a groundhog scream.
YEET.
He threw the umbrella across the bus and scrambled backward over the seats.
"Wuwu~"
The purple umbrella was caught by Kogasa. It whimpered like an abandoned puppy. The tongue retracted sadly.
"Hey!" Kogasa hugged the umbrella, glaring at Leo. "You adults are all the same! You throw away things the moment you don't like them! I hate you! You deserve to be scared!"
She was a Tsukumogami—a spirit born from an object discarded after 100 years. They were born of resentment and craved attention. But if cherished, they would protect their owners.
"Huh?"
Leo panted, clutching his chest.
"No... it's not that. I was just... startled."
He looked at the girl. Blue hair. Heterochromatic eyes. One leg enjoying the sensation of high socks, the other barefoot.
Wait. I know her.
Tatara Kogasa. The Cheerful Forgotten Umbrella.