May 3rd.
1:30 PM, Tokyo time.
As the flight attendant came over to remind them, Luo Shu—who had been playing cards—finally realised they were about to arrive in Tokyo.
"Finally, it's over!"
Hearing they were about to land, Koko tossed away her cards, deliberately mixing them with the discard pile before stretching lazily:
"We've been on this plane for over ten hours, right? I'm exhausted."
Luo Shu understood how she felt—this was his first time on such a long flight, too.
But that didn't excuse her card-throwing:
"Fair enough, but why did you mix your cards with the discard pile?"
"I just played three twos, right? None of you could counter them, correct?"
Luo Shu waved his two aces, giving Koko a deadpan look:
"Can't handle losing?"
"This is called a tactical retreat." Koko peeled off the three sticky notes on her face, laughing. "Cheating is a girl's privilege!"
As she laughed, Joan of Arc calmly picked out the mixed cards and handed them back to Koko, asking:
"According to my intuition, these were the cards you just threw away, right?"
Hearing this, Koko froze, clutching the cards in disbelief:
"N-not a single one missing... Damn it, whose side are you on as the referee?!"
Joan of Arc could only smile wryly at the question: "If you say I'm the referee, isn't fairness a given?"
"This is blatant favouritism!!" Koko protested loudly, her face full of indignation.
Origami Tobiichi nodded in agreement:
"Indeed, she's extremely biased by not letting me join the game."
"Shut up!"
Koko immediately turned to Origami and snapped:
"In the first round, when you and I were peasants, and the boss was the landlord, you showed him all your cards and even asked which one he wanted you to play next? You're even more biased than Joan of Arc!"
Origami tilted her head: "Peasants are subordinates to landlords, so was it wrong for me to favour Luo Shu?"
Hearing this, Koko jumped in frustration:
"Go read the rules of Landlord properly, you damn white-haired idiot!"
Origami asked curiously: "If I read the rules, can I be the referee?"
"Absolutely not! If Joan is just biased, you'd be so biased as a referee that your entire backside would lean towards the boss!"
"Oh? You can be biased like that?" Origami's eyes lit up.
Smack!
Koko slapped her forehead, utterly exasperated, and looked helplessly at Luo Shu:
"Forget it, boss, just play your cards... I've learned my lesson. I shouldn't have played this game at all..."
Tifa couldn't help but cover her mouth to stifle a laugh.
Seeing Koko's resignation, Luo Shu was also amused by her antics:
"It's just a card game, no need to take it so hard, right?"
As he spoke, he discarded his remaining two Aces and casually stuck the ugly turtle sticker Joan had prepared onto Koko's face, then did the same for Tifa, who had also lost.
"Ugh." Koko sighed, ripped the sticker off her face, and glanced out the window at the blocky airport seemingly built atop the azure sea. She raised an eyebrow and thought to herself:
'Tokyo...'
'The rumoured trading hub for Abyss Artefacts, with the Hidden Management Department's headquarters here—things are bound to get lively in the future.'
The plane slowly adjusted, preparing for an orderly descent.
Soon, just before 2 p.m., the group landed safely and entered the arrivals area.
The moment they stepped out, Luo Shu heard a familiar female voice.
"Darling, over here~~"
Turning his head, he spotted the silver-haired girl standing head and shoulders above the crowd, holding up a sign that read "I ♡ Luo Shu." He immediately covered his face in embarrassment.
The girl was so striking that many in the airport kept glancing her way.
But precisely because so many people were watching, Luo Shu was dying of awkwardness.
"Wow!!" Origami's eyes sparkled at the silver-haired girl's actions, as if she'd just learned a new trick.
Though Joan couldn't read the sign, Luo Shu's expression told her the girl was calling for him:
"Someone you know?"
"Yeah." Luo Shu really didn't want to admit it, but he had no choice.
Koko grinned at the scene: "My, my, seems like the seniors are quite interesting people."
"But isn't this a bit too awkward?" Tifa glanced at Luo Shu's mortified face and asked, "Aren't you going to stop her?"
Luo Shu sighed at her words, then quickly stepped forward, muttering as he walked:
"La Folia! You've really given me quite a surprise!"
Seeing Luo Shu approaching, La Folia tossed the sign aside and trotted over with open arms.
With a resigned sigh, Luo Shu spread his arms and embraced her slender waist, discreetly giving her plump rear a pinch:
"You little rascal, trying to embarrass me publicly?"
"What's the big deal~"
La Folia giggled as she planted a kiss on Luo Shu's cheek, then said mischievously:
"The lovestruck heroine holding a handmade heart-shaped sign, waiting silently at the airport for her leading man."
"Don't you think that's fun? Romantic?"
Luo Shu's face darkened at her words as he deadpanned:
"You think I can't tell Kisara wrote the words on that sign?"
"Oh dear, caught red-handed." La Folia stuck out her tongue playfully. "I was just helping shy Kisara hold the sign~"
"Cut the act. This was definitely your idea, and you talked Kisara into it, only for her to chicken out at the last minute, right?"
"With Kisara's thin skin, there's no way you could've convinced her to actually hold that sign..."
As he spoke, Luo Shu glanced around the airport. Aside from spotting Megumi Kato, he couldn't see anyone else, though he could sense traces of Kisara's Spiritual Power lingering nearby.
Wait, Megumi Kato?
Luo Shu did a double-take, turning to look at Megumi standing nearby, somewhat dumbfounded:
"Megumi, how long have you been standing there?"
"Hmm?"
Megumi Kato, who'd been texting Yukino Yukinoshita about having picked up the Director, looked up calmly from her phone:
"I've been following you since you exited the gate, Director."
Luo Shu's face immediately twisted into an awkward expression as he complained:
"Next time, don't conceal your presence when you're near me. And where's Kisara now?"
"Senior Kisara said she was going to the restroom. She's probably hiding in the pickup vehicle at the parking lot now?"
Megumi explained in her gentle tone.
Luo Shu just glared at La Folia, still clinging to him, before asking:
"What about Yukino?"
Megumi calmly glanced at La Folia this time:
"Senior Yukino is also in the pickup vehicle. Well, she refused Her Highness La Folia's sign-holding proposal, so she didn't come over, just asked me to follow quietly."
Hearing this, Luo Shu gave La Folia a look that said 'Seriously?'.
So this was her plan - using this embarrassing method to drive everyone away except stealthy Megumi, monopolising the airport pickup. How brilliant!
Giving La Folia a hard pinch and ignoring her exaggerated moan, Luo Shu turned to address the group behind him:
"Everyone, pick up the pace. Let's head straight to the parking lot."
'Before we become even more of a spectacle...' Luo Shu thought wearily, noticing the occasional glances from passersby.
...
In the airport parking lot.
Bard, who had just landed, was panting heavily as he knelt on one knee, retracting his Over Soul, the Azure Ship, with a pained expression:
"Is America really this far from Tokyo?"
"I had to drink an entire bottle of Holy Water just to make it..."
Nearby, Obagiu chuckled:
"I told you to come by ship, but you insisted on following Lady Joan of Arc. Now you're down a bottle of Holy Water - serves you right!"
"When we return to the homeland, I bet the Matriarch will scold you to death."
Bard glared irritably at this remark: "But if we let Lady Joan act alone, what's the point of us being her guards?"
"Ah." Hearing this, Obagiu sighed, not bothering to argue with Bard, and asked, "Then what about funds? We only have US dollars, no Japanese currency..."
Bard fell silent for a moment before whispering, "How about setting up a stall to sell handicrafts? I remember Akihabara is a huge market in Japan."
"We can't possibly ask Lady Joan for money, can we?"
Of course, the most important thing was that they couldn't possibly ask Luo Shu for funds, right? Although he was technically on the same side, their last meeting hadn't gone very smoothly... It was unlikely they'd get a loan.
"...Fine." Obagiu was already regretting following Bard's reckless plan.
He sighed and turned to look for the station exit.
Just as he turned, his body froze.
"What's wrong?" Bard propped himself up on his knees and stood, following Obagiu's gaze.
Instantly, the two figures standing ahead made cold sweat pour down his back:
"This conceptual fluctuation..."
"Demigods..."
At that moment, the woman on the left, dressed in an exquisite twelve-layered kimono, spoke in surprise:
"That makeup... Patch Tribe?"
Aya Tokoyogi observed them with keen interest:
"What a coincidence~"