Chapter 296: Chicks and Flying

"Nom, nom."

The young girl nibbled on the sweet fried tofu, her face filled with an expression of pure bliss.

"Huh?"

It wasn't until she finished the last bite and licked her fingers, still wanting more, that she finally noticed her surroundings. The noisy street was gone, replaced by a quiet, secluded hillside.

"Shido... wait, Shiori? What exactly did I..."

She tilted her head. Staring at Shido, who had dressed up as Shiori at some point, Miku happily nuzzling against Shiori, and Tohka squatting beside Shiori chewing on a lamb chop, Mikoto completely froze.

"Well, it's a long story, but basically..."

Shiori scratched her cheek awkwardly and slowly explained what had happened.

"Uuu... I caused so much trouble for you, Shido..."

Hearing Shiori's explanation, Mikoto lowered her head, blushing furiously. To think that after turning into a fox girl, she had actually received a debuff that caused her consciousness to short circuit at the sight of fried tofu.

"But it's fine now! The same trick won't work on a Spirit twice!"

Following that, Mikoto clenched her small fists in front of her chest and declared with absolute determination.

"Is that really true?"

Shiori expressed her doubts.

"It's true."

Mikoto nodded seriously.

"In that case..."

Hearing Mikoto's words, Shiori silently pulled out another piece of fried tofu and held it high in the air.

"Uwyah!? Auuuu..."

As a result, the young girl instantly reverted back into an adorable little creature with starry eyes.

(Yakumo-senpai... isn't a Saint Seiya...)

Looking at Mikoto, who was on her tiptoes, stretching as hard as she could with her fingertips reaching for the fried tofu, Shiori thought, sweating nervously.

(But... so cute...)

Staring at the absent minded Mikoto, her tail wagging as she focused entirely on the fried tofu, Shiori felt her heart get pierced by an arrow labeled "Moe."

She moved her hand to the left.

"Uuu..."

The young girl wagged her tail and followed to the left.

She moved her hand to the right.

"Uuu!"

The young girl wagged her tail and followed to the right.

"Shido..."

Finally, instinctively realizing that Shido was teasing her, the girl deployed the ultimate secret weapon of small animals. She pressed herself against the boy's chest, looked up, and stared at Shido with big, watery, teary eyes.

"Uuu..."

Being stared at by the girl's pitiful gaze, Shido felt his conscience take a massive critical hit while his heart practically melted from the cuteness.

He lowered his hand, and the girl lightly hopped up, biting down on the fried tofu in his hand.

(She really is just like a little animal.)

Holding the fried tofu while watching the girl happily nom nom nom on the other end, Shido couldn't help but think that.

"Uuu..."

A short while later, the fried tofu was gone. Still wanting more, the girl looked at him with an unsatisfied gaze.

"E-Even if you look at me like that, it's all gone."

Shido blushed and said awkwardly. If he knew this would happen, he would have bought a few more pieces.

"Uuu... nom..."

"W-Wait a second!"

As a result, Mikoto stared at Shido's empty hand for a moment, then simply lunged forward, gently biting his finger and starting to suck on it. (TL:cute...explode Shido)

(Crap!)

Because he had just been holding the fried tofu, his fingers naturally smelled like it. That became the key that lured Mikoto in.

"Ya... Yakumo-senpai..."

The wet, soft sensation transmitting from his fingertips made Shido's entire body go numb. He wanted to stop Mikoto, but his brain had completely turned to mush.

As a result...

"Huh?"

When she finally regained her senses, Mikoto's eyes widened. She stared at Shido, who was lying flat on the ground, his face bright red. Only then did she realize that she had pushed him down, and was straddling him while sucking on his finger.

"..."

Poof!

As the young girl's face grew redder and redder, a literal puff of steam finally erupted from the top of her head.

"Ah! Shiori-san having Mikoto-san all to herself is so unfair, woof!"

"Umu! I want to play with Shido too!"

Perhaps feeling lonely, Miku and Tohka also rushed over. In the small grove on the hillside, three animal eared girls completely surrounded Shido. Blushing, the girls slowly closed in on him.

"W-Wait a minute, everyone..."

Feeling like things were rapidly spiraling out of control, Shido desperately tried to stop them, but it was completely useless.

Just as Miku and Tohka were about to push him back down as he struggled to sit up...

Thud—!

"Ouch—!"

"Failure. As expected, doing it this way is impossible."

A loud crash echoed from not too far away, followed by two familiar voices.

"Kaguya? Yuzuru?"

Taking advantage of the moment everyone's attention was drawn by the sudden noise, Shido hurriedly stood up and ran toward the source of the sound.

Running through the woods, Shido arrived at an empty clearing in front of the hillside. There, he saw Kaguya rubbing her bottom and Yuzuru rubbing her head.

"Shi... Shido!? Why are you here? And why are you dressed like that!?"

Seeing Shido suddenly appear, Kaguya was so shocked she completely forgot to use her Chuunibyou mode.

"Astonishment. Shido has turned into Shiori again."

Yuzuru also looked incredibly surprised.

"Well, various reasons."

Shido blushed, tugged self consciously at his short skirt, and sighed helplessly.

"Ugh, what kind of reasons!?"

"Curiosity. Please explain yourself, Shido."

Facing the two overly curious girls, Shido took a few steps back, thought for a moment, and then asked:

"By the way, what exactly are you guys doing?"

"Kukuku, since you asked, we, the Children of the Typhoon, shall mercifully tell you... Huh? What were we doing again?"

"Pondering. Oh right, we were practicing flying."

It seemed everyone had suffered an intelligence debuff due to the animal transformation. Kaguya and Yuzuru not only let the subject change effortlessly, but they actually forgot what they had been doing in the first place. (TL:everyone got lobotomized noo)

(Right... bird brains...)

Looking at the two girls with their arms transformed into wings, Shido thought helplessly.

"But wait, can't you guys already fly?"

Then, he noticed the blatant contradiction in their words. Without a doubt, Kaguya and Yuzuru were Spirits, and Spirits could naturally fly. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that the Yamai sisters, being Spirits of Wind, had the best flying techniques of all the Spirits.

"This is different! We're trying to fly using these wings!"

"Agreement. We finally got wings, so we want to test them out."

The two explained.

"I'm pretty sure that's impossible..."

Looking at the two of them, Shido scratched his cheek and said. He didn't want to rain on their parade, but trying to fly without relying on Spirit energy was simply too difficult.

If humans were the kind of creatures that could fly just by slapping on a pair of wings, a massive number of biologists and physicists would be rolling in their graves.

"It's not impossible! Just watch! Behold my Secret Art—Dark Wing Soaring Heavens: Custom!"

Kaguya ran up to a tall rock, flapped her pitch black wings violently, stirred up a fierce gust of wind, and leaped into the air!

Thud!

And then, she landed flat on her bottom.

"Ow, ow, ow..."

The girl rubbed her behind, tears forming in her eyes.

"Mockery. 'Dark Wing Soaring Heavens' is just freefall motion."

Watching Kaguya's display, Yuzuru covered her mouth with her white wings and laughed.

"See... I told you it was impossible."

Shido waved his hand helplessly, signaling for Kaguya to give up.

"Guhuuu... I-In that case, I'll show you my Hidden Secret Art—Dark Wing Soaring Heavens: Custom: Type Zero!" (TL:Don't ask how I got these name translated..)

Saying that, the girl flapped her wings furiously.

Amidst the swirling storm, the pitch black wings actually carried Kaguya up into the air!

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