Been a long time. Let's return back to this story!
The next day. Location: Fraxinus Command Room
"That girl is a nutcase." Kuro shakes his head in disgust as everyone watches the conversation between Miku and Shiori in the former's home. "Just how unstable is her mind?"
"You said you knew someone…"
"That girl cares of ones around her. Does Miku sound like that?" The counter makes Kotori shut her mouth. "IF this operation is actually run by myself, I would guarantee you all that I would just jump the freaking gun and take her power instantly."
"And that's why I chained you here so you can't do so." Emerald says as she leans her back towards Minowa's table while looking at the magical vines wrapping around Kuro's feet. She then looks up at Miku's emotion counter and says: "Still, I sympathize you. But… do you think it's possible to ask RED to talk to her?"
"No. RED's liking is her own thing, Miku's situation is because of her past."
Everyone then watches Shiori directly revealing 'her' abilities to the girl, and how she wants Miku to cooperate so AST and DEM won't come after her. Diva replies by saying that she's satisfied with her current life, and when Shiori talks about how her power endangers the others…
The reply triggers at least two of the crews in Fraxinus. Though they manage to not overact just because of some words enraging them.
They then hear Miku's 'challenge' in Tenou Festival, and the prices of losing or winning. Of course, Shiori takes it, and with that she leaves the mansion…
"This is their problem, not ours." Emerald quickly says before Kuro could let out any words. "So no 5pb., no Candidates participating."
"Doesn't mean that we won't help him." Kuro then replies. "We need to at least make sure that Miku won't win because of her power."
"That's impossible to cover the audience's ears for that." Kotori counters. "And if you use your power, she could lean into that fact to call us out."
"Using magic in our current position is not what I'm planning to." Kuro nods, agreeing with what the Spirit of Fire proposes. "Diva's power comes from manipulating sound waves. We can use subsonic waves to counter it without her noticing…"
"I don't think it will work." Reine interrupts. "She could detect a foreign source of sound and, if my theory is correct, she could just overwhelm them with her power."
"Besides, she loses if Raizen school wins first place on the first day." Kotori reminds the condition for them to win.
"I know… *Sigh* I just want to beat her at her own professional."
"Humiliation would provoke her further, Kuro." Emerald shakes her head. "That girl would do ANYTHING to win. Even if she loses, she would throw a tantrum and demands rematch until she wins."
"…True." Kuro sighs again and cools his head down… literally, by slightly freezing the air around his head. "…What could add to the conditions of winning first place again?"
"Shops, advertisements, music. Anything that gains the audience's attention and up-votes." The Candidate of Leanbox reminds the fifth CPU of the activities in the upcoming festival. "All we could do now is to help them practicing, and that's it."
"I believe you can leave now." Reine notes. "If there's anything problematic, we will ask you later."
"…So be it." Pulling his legs out of the vines, Kuro nods and gestures to Emerald while saying: "Let's return to your place. We're gonna need to make food for a lot of people."
"Only Tohka is 'a lot of people' here." Emerald can't help but shaking her head at Kuro's attempt at making jokes.
A day later. Location: Tenguu Military Base
"WHAT IS THIS BS PLAN!? WHY IS THERE A CIVILIAN'S NAME IN THE LIST?" Ryouko screams as she slams the paper, which contains the plans of the next operation, on the table as she focuses her attention on Jessica. "And capturing the Spirits in the middle of a festival UNDER SUNLIGHT? Are you DEM out of your mind?"
"Shout all you want, but this is a ceremony." Jessica bluntly replies. And before the Captain could ask anything further, the Wizard starts taking her leave, quickly followed by her subordinates. Though, when she reaches the door, the red-hair woman adds: "And make sure Origami Tobiichi doesn't find out about this. That's the higher ups' order."
Once everyone else is out, Ryouko slams her hands on the table while gritting her teeth. "What the hell is going on here? Why is DEM targeting normal people…"
"Simple, they are not normal." Startling at the unknown voice, she turns to the first chair row to see a man wearing a lab coat sitting in one of the chairs. "Seems like Japan's AST is having a lot of problems, huh?"
"…Since when did you sit there?" Remembering the face she met after Diva escaped, Ryouko is not surprised at his appearance, but suspicious about why he is here. "And why are you here?"
"Well, stalking you all." The man laughs at the disgusted stare from the girl. "Okay, joking aside, I need to find out if your operation could hurt us and the Spirits. And I was here from the beginning of the meeting."
"Our duty is to eliminate the Spirits…"
"Only because of the damage their arrival caused. If we can avoid that, then you don't have to kill, right?"
"…So, what's your plan after hearing that?"
"Well, obviously DEM is not gonna take anyone away. And I have sent the records of this meeting to Origami, so she also knows what would happen next."
"Hey…"
"Jessica only told YOU to not tell her, not ME." Kuro stands up and walks to her, then gives her a small paper. "This is my contact number. If something happens within AST and DEM that causes problems, don't hesitate to call for help."
"…What is your game?" The suspicion becomes even stronger.
"Hey, I told you before, through Shanghai. The doll." Noticing the confusion look on Ryouko's face, Kuro quickly clarifies. He then looks at his watch and says: "Well, it's time for me to leave. Hope we won't have to fight against each other soon."
"Hey wa…" She doesn't even blink, and somehow he disappears like he was never there. She then looks down at the paper to see, there is indeed a number… with some sorts of coordinates below. "…What are those numbers? A location?"
Location: Raizen School
"No no. No no no. You are NOT forcing me doing so." A certain teacher is diverting his eyes away to avoid looking at a certain princess' puppy eyes.
"But they are going to watch us! Please…"
"No means no. And I can't just participate that easily. And also NO on that plan in your head."
It's lunch time, and everyone's enjoying their relaxing time, mostly within groups. To nobody's surprise, the heterochromia girl is sitting right next to the English teacher, nudging him constantly and trying to 'invite' him into helping in the upcoming event. His group is currently in the school's rooftop, eating their lunch while chatting. And then it leads to this conversation.
Slightly chuckling at Kuro's 'misery', Shiori comments: "She does have a good idea, Kuro-sensei. You look very…"
"Please no. I do NOT like doing so. That form is ONLY situational."
"What are you talking about?" Tohka doesn't know about Kuro's alternative form… yet.
"Well, he can…"
"No, Shiori." That shuts the boy-in-disguise up as he notices the 'I will kill you' glare from the teacher.
"Just a little change won't change things much." Emerald is, of course, into the idea. "I mean, either we ask you nicely, or 'she' will force you doing so."
That makes the teacher flinch a bit in fear.
"Speaking of that, they are already finding the…"
"Where?" Kuro plans to stand up, but Kurumi immediately pulls him back down.
"It's already decided, Kuro-sensei." Kurumi snickers, then licks her lips in a seductive way. "You know, we haven't done something like…"
"NOT. IN. PUBLIC." Kuro's face flares up in embarrassment, as he says the words as slowly and quietly as possible, in his native language. Because of that, the girl just giggles while covering her mouth with her right hand, while the others have no clues of what he just said.
That doesn't stop Emerald from instantly knowing what the two are talking about. "Aside from Kurumi's strange (read: kinky) fantasy…"
"It's not that strange!"
"To us, it is. Anyway, I think that you can't really refuse this. Besides, I think it's a good way to earn points in front of them."
"Earn what points, Emerald?" Kuro narrows his eyes with his face still having redness. He then notices the Yamai twins giving him looks of curiosity, so he just says: "Please don't mind our little quarrel."
However, that sentence just digs his own grave, as Kaguya grins at him and says: "Oh, I think we both would like to hear how you are going to 'help' Shiori winning the deal."
Adding oil to the fire, Yuzuru comments: "Agreement. Yuzuru wants to know it as well."
The teacher looks at the twin's curious (and mischief) expressions, then turns to Emerald who fakes whistling, and to Kurumi whose laugh slightly gets louder. "…You better prepare for any punishments I'm going to dump on you." The teacher sighs and uses his chopsticks to pick up a piece of cut tomato and puts it in his mouth…
"Loud and clear, Queen of Annihilation."
"OH YOU *COUGH!*" The Candidate and the False Spirit's statement causes him to choke on the food, and the two take that moment to change into their alternative forms and fly away. Once recovered, Kuro looks up to the direction he senses the two flying off, and he quickly chases after them while screaming: "YOU BETTER PREPARE YOURSELF, YOU CHEEKY GIRLS!"
After a few seconds…
"What are they talking about, Shiori?"
"That's something you don't need to know soon, Tohka."
The next day
"Woah! This is so frilly!" Tohka says in awe as she examines the maid outfit she just donned on her for the event.
"You sure enjoy it." Kurumi giggles as she watches the girl cheerfully flapping the apron. She then looks down on her own and says to herself: "It's been a while since I wore this kind of dress. The people would wear the same surprise faces every time they saw me in this, even after the first time."
"Can you really blame them?"
"Of course not." The girl giggles again, and turns to the maid standing next to her. "A bit sad that 'he' still managed to avoid this, though…"
"Don't complain. You know how embarrassed he would be if words are leaked." The maid closes her eyes while saying so to also avoid the puppy eyes. "Anyway, please behave."
"Of course!" The maid slightly opens her right eyes to see Kurumi's brightened expression. "I can't wait to show her this again!"
"Your whole family is weird." Kaguya can't help but chuckling at how the 'princess' changes her actions from times to times. She then turns to the 'maid' and asks: "So… your name is Sakuya, correct?" That earns her a nod. "Any advices for us to win?"
"Just follow the flows." The Time Maid of SDM replies. "Besides, I'm here to help you, not to run the whole place. And I can't really do anything in large scales, otherwise…"
"Understand. We don't ask you to push yourself too far." Yuzuru assures.
"This is easier than maintaining a mansion." Sakuya says, earning looks on confusion. "Just my work before I was asked to help you."
"Hey, does any of you see Origami?" The girls turn their attentions back to Shiori. "Doesn't she agree to help us today?"
"Well…" Kurumi plans to answer, but her phone suddenly rings up, signaling a message being sent to her. She then reads what it says… "Ah… um…"
Sakuya leans towards to see the message, then says to the others: "Origami is currently having some problems getting here. She might join later, but it's not guarantee."
"Aw, that's a shame." Ai Yamabuki sighs while putting her hands on her hips. "It's rare to see her wearing these kinds of outfits."
"I think she would only wear those if it's to show off to Shidou, though." Mai Hazakura says, thinking about how the girl acts towards the boy. That also causes Shiori to slightly blush up, though the 'human' girls do not notice.
"That's so lame." Mii Fujibakama says her usual quote, but it's more of disappointment that disgust.
While the girls (and Shiori) start talking to each other, Sakuya whispers into Kurumi's ears: "Master Kuro ordered us to just make sure the café goes well, and we can automatically win."
'So he did all the works again…'
'We have our own fight with Miku. Don't forget it. Besides, I think 'they' are going to arrive soon.'
'…Right!'
…
Tenou Festival. A joint cultural festival being held by ten high schools in Tengu City. Normally, students aged from 14 to 18 would be seen at every corner of Tengu Square. Of course, some people from the outside could be seen wandering and enjoying the time with the students as well.
However, many people start noticing a few 'different' individuals wandering around with outfits that could make everyone mistake them being in a cosplay event…
That also includes the poster girl Shiori, as she notices one strange group walking towards the maid café. Though, job comes first, as she gives the poster towards the group and invites them: "Would you like to visit our maid café?"
"Ah, we would be glad to." Upon hearing the voice, the 'girlish' maid takes a double check at who just said that, and sees a mature version of Emerald receiving the small poster with care. Seeing Shiori's confusion, the woman asks in curiosity: "Ara, is something on my face?"
"I think she's focusing on that racks of yours, Vert." A petite girl wearing a white dress standing next to her says while keeping her eyes in a book in her right hand.
Upon hearing that, Shiori blushes up and bows down apologetically. "I'm sorry for staring!"
"It's alright dear." The adult Emerald giggles while keeping her hands under said objects. "Not many can really divert their eyes out of them in their first meet with me."
"Stopping teasing her, Vert." Another woman with long brown hair and a green leaf bow on her head shakes her head while lightly scolds the other woman. She then turns to Shiori and apologizes: "I'm sorry her behavior. She tends to flirt with everyone she first meets."
"Hey, that's not very nice of him." Vert looks a bit hurt, but that clearly contradicts with her tone.
"It's true." Another woman wearing a blue shirt and white dress comments. "Even more if they don't resist."
"A…Anyway, please enter." The poster girl decides to end the conversation and gestures them to come in. The group nods and starts entering…
When the last one in the group, wearing a pink dress and has pink hair, whispers into Shiori's ear: "We heard the situation from Kuro. Focus your problems on that Spirit."
"!" Nearly taken by surprise, Shiori turns to look at the woman who just smiles. "…Thank you." That's all she could say.
"By the way, nice dress! Can I take a picture of you later?" That makes Shiori fluster up, which makes the woman giggle. "I'm just joking. Be careful!" With that, the woman joins back the group.
"…If there's more of them, my heart might fly out of my chest." Shiori takes a deep breath, then continues her work.
…
Time: 3 PM
"They're on time. As expected of the Wizards." Kuro sits at the edge of the top of Tengu Square where the festival is held. He lazily looks at his watch, then back to the coming DEM soldiers, and taps on his earpiece and calls up to Fraxinus: "How many am I expecting to fight here?"
"Around fifty to sixty wizards! And a seemingly endless number of Bandersnatches!" Minowa warns.
"They are really trying, I will give them that." Turning to his left, Kuro sees Emerald sitting like him while kicking her legs. "Origami, sorry for pulling you into this mess."
"Don't worry. It's something that AST needs to sort out." The moment the sentence is out, a green laser blasts through the air, destroying numerous Bandersnatches. "Besides, the reward pays off."
"Of course you could rob her into this by that." Emerald turns to Kuro, then both chuckle and stand up. "Let's help her before those DEM overwhelms her." Though Kuro sudden sneezes three times. "What happens?"
"…Probably getting talked behind my back. Nothing new."
…
"Captain, the entire squad of DEM and the others suddenly vanish!"
"That can't be right. How could something like that happen without any seconds of notification?" Ryouko taps on the control board in confusion as the screen shows literally no sights of anything in the sky after that blast from Origami's White Licorice.
"Um… maybe that person… teleported everything within area to somewhere else?" One of the observers asks in wonder. "Maybe that's what the coordinates for?"
Before the operation, the Captain has asked the Major about the numbers, but she didn't know what it could be. Then she checked on the online map to see that the coordinate pointed at where the Tengu Square is… but some numbers somehow didn't match and yet…
"…Try the new coordinate again." Ryouko orders while giving the observer the paper.
"Roger." The soldier follows the order and starts fixing the coordinates again… "We get the signals again!"
"…They just reappear on the screen? How?" Ryouko asks in utter confusion as everyone watches the fight between DEM group and Goddess' trio…
"A fifth of the Wizards and twenty Bandersnatches are down! And the number keeps increasing!" Another observer reports.
"It's an emergency! Send reinforcements!"
Ryouko's earpiece then catches Jessica's plead of help. And obviously she's not going to follow that order. "Etou… This line is currently unable to be used…"
…
Location: Pocket dimension.
"Well played!" Kuro laughs hysterically as he kicks off another Bandersnatch's head, hearing the full trolling from Ryouko. He then pulls out his revolvers and starts shooting down the bullets coming towards him. "Remind me to set up a vacation for the AST later!"
"Of course everyone in your family would think about vacations." Green Sister can't help but chuckle as she sends several Sylphid Spears towards the Bandersnatches, while Origami targets the Wizards' flying units and destroys them so they can't fly anymore.
"Sounds good to me." And the white-haired girl already has her reward waiting, and she wouldn't mind having another one.
"Stop messing around!" Shouting in anger, Jessica tries to fire her weapons towards the trio, but ends up in failure by Kuro deflecting the shots, Green Sister dodging around, or Origami tanking the hit with her Territory. "All units, do NOT stop firing!"
"Hey, Origami. How are you holding up?" Tapping into his earpiece, Kuro then uses his free hand to call out a barrier around him and sits lazily in the air, letting the shots coming at him while calling the girl.
"…While it's fun to mess with her, I would like to end this fight soon. I don't think I can handle White Licorice for too long." The girl confesses as she starts flying around while dodging the shots.
"I see. Well, let's…"
"Don't think this is over." From the corner of his right eye, Kuro notices a fast laser shot coming straight towards him, colliding into the barrier and exploding, creating a huge smoke screen around him. Then something hit hard on the barrier, blasting the smoke away, revealing Ellen in Pendragon slamming her sword against his defend. "Our objectives change. Your head will be our new target."
"Jeez, no need to be so impatient." Kuro chuckles, and to everyone's surprise and disgust, he just detaches his head out and throws his head towards Ellen, who immediately swings her sword up and slashes away the head in defense. His head then falls into a small portal and drops back to his neck, attaching back to its original place. "Hey, don't just throw away the other's gift like that. I'm offended."
Disgusted by the action, Ellen slams her sword down again, only for Kuro to swing his own up (the weapon appears mid-swing) and kick her away. When she recovers, she starts expanding her power while ordering: "All units, focus on Goddess and the defected AST member. Jessica, you help me eliminating him."
"About damn time! That bastard ticked me off for too long!" Grinning madly, the red-hair reloads her weapons and focuses on Kuro, while the others follow Ellen's previous order.
"…You know, beating you up straight away is too easy. How about humiliating you for a while more?" Kuro then holds his katana with both hands. A second later, the katana changes into a familiar broadsword, and his appearance morphs into the Spirit Codename Princess. 'He' then speaks with the imitated person's voice: "Let me show you the Spirits are not some pushovers!"
Chapter 10 end!
Like Matt Horner and his group, Sakuya Izayoi is also a clone. She's from Touhou Project.
I was planning to write down the events IN the festival, but I can't squish both sides into this one chapter. So I will return back to the events in the next chapter.
For that, see you again in the future!