"That bastard, what the hell is she doing." As soon as she got back to her room, Tohka immediately took off her underwear. Then she changed into a fresh pair before letting out a sigh of relief. Even now, her face was still a little red—she couldn't help it, today's experience had been pretty intense. She'd almost been dragged into the City of Devouring Time, and although she didn't believe that thing could really hold her, she still shivered at the thought.
"Wasn't that girl supposed to be targeting Shido Itsuka? She wanted to use that guy's power to return to the past. But now she's fixated on me? Wasn't she supposed to rarely attack other Spirits?" It was only now that Tohka recalled what Kurumi's goal had always been. But wasn't her target supposed to be Shido? So why was it her now? Unable to figure it out, Tohka finished getting dressed and headed off to school.
After all, first of all she still had class, and second, she wanted to see what tricks Kurumi was going to pull. So, no matter what, she was not about to just stay at home—after all, that girl was way too dangerous.
Tohka's speed was unmatched; she returned so quickly that lunch break hadn't even ended.
"Crap, I forgot to eat." But just as she stepped into the classroom, Tohka went limp. She'd been so preoccupied with Kurumi that she'd completely forgotten lunch. For someone who loved to eat as much as she did, this was absolutely intolerable. But it was already past lunchtime. She didn't have the habit of bringing a bento, and the cafeteria wouldn't have anything left at this hour either. So, Tohka could only lay despondently across her desk, ignoring the stares from the classmates around her.
"Ara ara, you seem rather distressed, Tohka Yatogami. How about it—shall we have another round?" Watching Tohka listlessly sprawled over the desk, Kurumi seemed to misunderstand something.
"Heh." At this moment, her brain temporarily abandoned by hunger, Tohka simply ignored her. In her mind, food took absolute priority—everything else could wait. She'd already decided that once this class was over, she'd head over to the cooking classroom and grab something to eat. After that, she'd think about how to deal with Kurumi. After all, that girl was a student here now—she couldn't run away anytime soon.
"Any updates, Kotori, on this spirit?" On the other side, Shido was communicating with Kotori. According to their plan, the idea was to make the Spirit fall in love so he could seal her powers.
"Yeah, Kurumi Tokisaki—codename: Nightmare. Threat level: S." Maybe because they'd been warned by Tohka, they had gone and investigated Kurumi's record. But very soon, Kotori, who'd initially sounded relaxed, also became serious: "Just like Tohka warned you before, this Spirit's file is terrifying. She has killed over ten thousand people already. So, when you approach her, you must be extremely cautious. And it seems she has taken an interest in Tohka for now, so don't rush to contact her."
In the original timeline, no one had warned them, and Kurumi had shown immediate affection for Shido, so they hadn't looked into her background. Now that they had, even Kotori and Origami felt uneasy about letting Shido approach her.
"Nani? Then what should we do? Besides, she seems to be targeting Tohka." Although he'd been startled by Kurumi's reputation, Shido was more worried than scared. In his eyes, Tohka was still very kind, and since she had sealed her power within him, she probably didn't have much strength left to resist Kurumi. He imagined she'd soon be devoured without a trace.
"Don't be so sure, Shido. Tohka isn't as simple as you think." But Kotori's voice came through again, and this time, she sounded no less serious about Tohka than about Kurumi: "Tohka has killed people too. Not nearly as many as Kurumi, but definitely more than a few."
"Nani? What are you talking about? She's obviously very gentle." Shido was taken aback. After all, although Tohka had fought fiercely, she had never killed anyone. Even the AST soldiers who had tried to hunt her down had only ended up in the hospital. He'd heard Origami say so himself—they hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
"No, you can't look at it that way, Shido." Kotori's voice came through again, clearly disagreeing: "The killing intent around Tohka is impossible to conceal. It's not nearly as intense as Kurumi's, but there's plenty of it. But don't worry—she's the kind of person who won't hurt anyone as long as you don't cross her bottom line. But you've seen it yourself—if anyone crosses that line, she absolutely won't hold back."
She wasn't exaggerating. Even though they hadn't known Tohka for that long, both she and Reine had come to understand her nature. Although they were curious what she had been through before, as far as they could tell now, Tohka was exactly that kind of person. But overall, she was still very kind. After all, if it had been anyone else targeted by AST the way she was, things could have ended in a massacre. That was why they dared to let Shido get so close to a Spirit whose affection level was still far from high enough.
"All right, let's wait and see for now." Hearing Kotori's words, Shido didn't argue further and simply continued to observe in secret. As for Reine, she didn't say a word. In her eyes, since Tohka had been able to seal her own power, maybe she could help seal the other Spirits too. And Kurumi was simply too dangerous. She had a general idea of what Kurumi was after, so it was best to let Tohka take point for now. After all, she and Tohka had an agreement. As for the future—she already had a rough plan in mind.
"Sigh... finally, class is over. Time to move." Whatever Shido and the others were discussing, Tohka couldn't care less. Once she saw that the time was up, she immediately dashed out of the room. She knew there was still plenty of food in the cooking classroom. After all, she'd taken classes there before and knew they always kept a stock of semi-prepared ingredients so students could practice cooking. Which meant she could just eat it right away. As for whether her actions might cause some chaos—she'd already thrown that concern out the window.
"Hey—wait, you there! Those are the supplies for the next class—!" And so, without even realizing it, Tohka single-handedly forced the entire school's cooking class to be suspended temporarily. There was nothing else they could do—she had literally cleaned out every last scrap of ingredients.