Just as Shido's heart was about to pound out of his throat, his fingers trembling, almost bringing his ordinary cream banana crepe to Chinatsu's lips—
Chinatsu, however, like a cunning cat, suddenly pulled back, instantly creating distance.
She primly sat back down at the other end of the bench. The ambiguous, expectant expression on her face vanished without a trace, replaced by a light chuckle full of mischief and teasing.
"Oh my~" She gently covered her mouth with the back of her hand, her ice-blue eyes sparkling with the success of a prank.
"Classmate Itsuka, you're really easy to tease, aren't you? Did you take it so seriously?"
Shido remained in that stiff, ready-to-feed posture, his brain completely unprepared for this sudden turn of events. The blush on his face had not yet receded, his expression was blank, and he looked utterly like a fool who had been played.
Chinatsu chuckled softly, stood up gracefully, and brushed off non-existent dust from her skirt.
She walked a few steps forward, positioning herself perfectly in the strongest light of the setting sun, then turned around lightly.
In an instant, Shido's vision was filled with a dazzling golden glow.
Chinatsu's entire figure seemed to merge with the sunset behind her. The strong backlight outlined her slender silhouette, yet completely hid the details of her face in deep shadow, leaving only a vague, blurry outline, imbued with a mysterious and elusive aura.
Her voice came through the halo, carrying a hint of lazy teasing and subtle warning, clearly reaching Shido's ears:
"Classmate Itsuka, believing a girl's words so casually won't make you likable, you know~"
She tilted her head slightly; although her expression couldn't be seen, Shido could feel that gaze from the shadows falling upon him.
"In love—or rather, in any form of 'duel'—a slight hesitation will lead to a crushing defeat."
She paused, her tone carrying a sense of knowing ease, and softly uttered a phrase like a proverb:
"This is what they call—'Hesitate, and you lose'~ ♪"
Having said that, she lingered no longer, turning and continuing down the path bathed in the sunset, leaving the dazzling halo and Shido, still bewildered on the bench, behind her.
Shido stared blankly at her gradually receding figure, merging into the golden light, still clutching the crepe he had almost offered.
Her last words echoed in his ears, his face burning, his heart filled with the shame of being teased and a strange, ineffable throb of emotion.
(Hesitate... and you lose...?)
He felt as if he had just experienced a brief but intense storm, and at the center of the storm, the girl named Phoenix-in Chinatsu, remained an incomprehensible enigma shrouded in mist.
On the Fraxinus bridge, a brief silence also fell, leaving only Kannazuki's meaningless, intoxicated groans as he clutched his aching head.
Kotori looked at Shido's distraught appearance on the screen, then at Chinatsu's chic departing back, and bit down hard on the precious jewel in her mouth.
(This Spirit... is indeed difficult to deal with!)
---
The two walked one after another down the quiet street leading to the apartment building, the setting sun stretching their shadows long. The familiar apartment building was already visible in the distance.
Shido took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and quickly caught up to walk beside Chinatsu, reiterating his core request:
"Um... Classmate Hōōin! Before we go up, could you... give me Koushi's phone number? Or let me talk to him first?"
"Just a minute, no, thirty seconds will do! I just want to confirm his voice, hear if he's alright..." His tone was one of sincere pleading, his eyes full of expectation.
Chinatsu, who was walking ahead, stopped.
She slowly turned around to face Shido. Under Shido's expectant gaze, she extended a slender index finger.
She gently tapped her smooth cheek, tilted her head slightly, and looked up at the sky with her ice-blue eyes, striking a thoughtful, extremely cute pose.
Shido's heart involuntarily sped up, thinking there might be a turn for the better.
However, the next second, Chinatsu's gaze dropped from the sky back to Shido's face. Her big eyes sparkled with cunning, a mischievous smile played on her lips, and she said in a sweet but undeniable tone:
"No~"
"Eh?" Shido was stunned.
"Why do you have to call?" Chinatsu took a step forward, her mischievous smile even more pronounced, "Isn't it better to see and confirm brother's situation with your own eyes~?"
Before Shido could react, Chinatsu suddenly took another step forward, very naturally extended both hands, and hugged Shido's right arm, clutching his arm tightly to her chest.
She even rested her head lightly on Shido's shoulder, adopting a completely dependent, demure posture.
Then, she looked up, gazing at Shido from a very close distance, deliberately widening her ice-blue eyes. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes seemed to shimmer with a pitiful moisture as she pleaded softly with a hint of coquetry and grievance in her nasal voice:
"Classmate Itsuka~ Come back with me~?" "Just... keep me company, okay?"
This sudden, extremely contrasting intimate contact and soft plea, like a combo attack, instantly broke through Shido's psychological defenses.
The soft sensation on his arm, the slight weight on his shoulder, and the faint fragrance lingering at his nose made him dizzy, his cheeks burning.
On the Fraxinus side, there seemed to be scattered exclamations and Kotori's scolding, but he could no longer hear them clearly.
"W-wait... Classmate Hōōin... this..." Shido stammered, his body stiff.
"Let's go, let's go~"
Chinatsu, however, gave him no chance to think. Holding his arm, she began to half-pull, half-drag him towards the apartment building. Her strength was unexpectedly great, or rather, Shido was utterly powerless to resist at that moment.
He was pulled by Chinatsu, almost half-coerced, half-willingly walking forward, his mind in a complete mess, only able to send a silent distress signal to Kotori via his earpiece.
(Fraxinus! Kotori! What should I do?! She's literally dragging me home!)
Silence in the earpiece for a few seconds, then Kotori's voice came through, tinged with a hint of helplessness and decisiveness:
"...Plans change. Shido, the situation has changed, improvise! Since she invited you, go with the flow! This is an excellent opportunity to directly confirm Koushi's condition! Remember, stay alert, but also act naturally! We'll monitor the whole thing from here, ready to assist at any time!"
And so, in the last glow of the sunset, this scene unfolded: a seemingly delicate beautiful girl intimately hugging the arm of a red-faced, flustered young man, practically "kidnapping" him and dragging him towards her home.
And that young man, his mind blank, could only passively move along, his heart filled with the confusion of "isn't something wrong with this progress?" and a subtle, ineffable throb of being needed.
They walked towards the apartment in the curious and kind gazes of passersby. For Shido, this was an unpredictable and tense development.
For Chinatsu, it was merely an interesting after-show, enjoying the "protagonist's" flustered reactions.
Chinatsu felt Shido's panic, thinking with inner amusement:
(Got it! Now let's see where you run! Next up, it's 'Koushi's' turn to appear... I need to think carefully about how to make it interesting...)
The apartment door leading to the "truth" (or rather, a deeper scheme) was right before them.