"Tachibana, your shooting angles today are pretty abstract."
A helpless voice came through the headset—Ayano Kōura said, "But it's alright, the zone's shrinking toward us this match. We just need to camp and get into the finals."
Hearing her friend's teasing, Kōshi Tachibana little face flushed red, but she couldn't refute him.
Though there were many benefits to becoming young again, suddenly turning into a child wasn't something one could easily get used to.
The desk was too tall, her arms too short.
The screen was too big, and her field of view too narrow.
The gaming setup she bought specifically to play games had been just right for an adult, but it was a struggle for a kid.
[Sorry, I'm not in a good mood today.]
"When are you ever in good mood?"
Seeing Kōshi Tachibana typed message, Ayano Kōura immediately quipped, "Last time it was back pain, the time before that it was elbow pain. If you suck, then just practice more. Don't keep using 'off days' as an excuse."
Just then, a knock came from Kōshi Tachibana bedroom door.
"Mr Tachibana."
Matsubara Takashi's voice came from outside the door, with a hint of urgency. "Meteora and the others are back!"
"They're back? I've already met them."
"No, it's not just them. They also brought another creation from the opposing faction!" Matsubara said. "They said they want to talk with you."
"A creation from the opposing faction wants to talk to me?"
Kōshi Tachibana was stunned, not quite sure what was going on.
Even though she didn't know the details, anything involving a creation was definitely serious.
[Something urgent came up. Logging off for now, catch you later.]
"This is my promo match, bro! Don't mess with me!"
[Really urgent. Bye.]
"If I play with you next time, I'm a dog!"
Kōshi Tachibana hurriedly sent that last line, took off her headset, and exited the game.
When she arrived in the living room, she saw the three familiar creations had already returned.
But it wasn't just them—there was another unfamiliar creation sitting on the couch.
No, not exactly unfamiliar.
In the information Kikuchihara Aki had given her, the identities of all discovered creations were listed.
The girl sitting on the couch was one of them.
"Hello, I'm Kōshi Tachibana. May I ask what you wanted to talk about?"
"Hello! My name is Mamika Kirameki." Mamika Kirameki said, "I came to ask you about something regarding Little Nana."
"Little Nana? You mean Natsumi?"
"Yes." Mamika Kirameki nodded. "Actually, after Little Nana left Akihabara, that Military Uniform Princess targeted her and fought her in a fierce battle."
"A battle?" Kōshi Tachibana expression grew serious. "And then?"
"Don't worry. Although Little Nana lost and fell unconscious, I stopped the Military Uniform Princess before she could finish her off." Mamika Kirameki scratched her head a bit awkwardly. "Because of that, the Military Uniform Princess now sees me as a traitor. I had no choice but to take Little Nana to a safe place to recover. Fortunately, she woke up pretty soon afterward."
"That's good."
Hearing this, Kōshi Tachibana finally felt a bit relieved.
However, even more questions followed.
Clearly, Mamika Kirameki also understood what Kōshi Tachibana wanted to ask and didn't hide anything. She quickly explained everything that happened next.
"Ah..."
After hearing what Mamika Kirameki had done to Natsumi, Kōshi Tachibana mouth twitched a few times, unsure what to say.
When Kōshi Tachibana danced on Natsumi landmines, at least she knew where they were buried—no risk of being blown to bits.
But this girl? She charged in completely blind, and every word she said landed squarely on a mine.
Her intentions were good—normal even—but in the end, she'd done more harm than good.
"Natsumi... is exactly as you suspected. She's an extremely insecure child."
It wasn't something Kōshi Tachibana could really blame her for. She cleared her throat and said, "She's so insecure that it's practically self-loathing. Even if your praise was genuine, her twisted way of thinking would still interpret it all as malicious. If you weren't her lifesaver, she probably wouldn't have let you off so easily."
"Yeah… I've already realized that." Mamika Kirameki lowered her head sadly. "That's why I contacted Meteora and asked her to help me find where Little Nana is."
"You won't find her."
Kōshi Tachibana replied helplessly, "She's a 'witch' who can use 'magic'. If she doesn't want to be found, no one can find her."
"If it's magic, I can do that too," Meteora interjected. "Tracking spells are my specialty."
"And I brought a casting item too." Mamika Kirameki took a star-shaped item from her pocket. "This was left behind when Little Nana teleported. It probably fell off her clothes."
"...Huh?"
Hearing Mamika Kirameki offhand remark, Kōshi Tachibana wore a confused expression.
Teleportation?
I don't remember giving Natsumi a teleportation ability in her settings...
At this point in the story, she shouldn't be able to copy other Spirits' Angels to achieve teleportation either...
Then she looked at the star in Mamika Kirameki hand.
That was definitely an accessory from Natsumi Astral Dress.
But were accessories from an Astral Dress supposed to fall off?
Or maybe, because these fictional characters had descended into the real world, some of their settings had to be adjusted to fit reality?
No. That's not right.
A sharp light flashed in Kōshi Tachibana eyes.
"This star accessory... is Natsumi!"
As this thought emerged in her mind, Kōshi Tachibana heart began to race.
It was the most reasonable explanation.
In fact, in the original series, Natsumi had once turned into a lollipop to escape Shido Itsuka pursuit.
Given her ability to distort reality, if she could turn herself into a tall, sexy beauty, then naturally she could also transform into other things.
Kōshi Tachibana coughed lightly, covering the smile on her lips.
It seemed Mamika Kirameki actions weren't entirely a case of good intentions gone wrong.
Back in Akihabara, her public declaration that the whole world was full of lolicons had definitely gotten through to Natsumi, at least a little.
Although Natsumi was a character with extreme insecurity and self-loathing, deep down, she still longed for recognition from others.
Now that she was in a whole new world, though she was angry and embarrassed by Kōshi Tachibana outrageous claims, a seed had indeed been planted in her heart.
And under Mamika Kirameki prodding, that seed had begun to sprout.