【Ch. 3 - Unexpected Trouble】

The messenger stayed frozen in place for a while. That wasn't surprising, this entire situation is pretty unprecedented. Chin in hand, I contemplated how I should explain this to her. Ultimately, though, I decided it honestly didn't matter that much. She'd probably just stick with us out of curiosity, which was pretty harmless in the end. It wasn't like I was hiding something.

“Uh, Tama-san?!”

Hmm? I look up as I finish gathering my thoughts from Takeda's sudden exclamation. Ahead, I witnessed what I could only describe as my coworker bending down into a sprinter's starting stance.

Oi oi, what in the world are you doing?

With no time for me to even be confused, she immediately took off, on a beeline straight for Takeda. With a perfect sprinting form, even.

I swore I saw a glint in her eyes right before she did it too. Like a hunter locking onto their prey. My body instinctively moved between her and Takeda with an arm thrown out to one side. Not that I believed this would in any way stop her.

“Oooi! Wait! Stop! What are you doing?!”

She didn't bother responding to me. As expected. The distance between us was closing rapidly, and I considered my options with what little time I had. Lets dismiss the idea I could even possibly stop her. There was no way. The path was a straight line too and me aside, there'd be no way for a human like Takeda-kun to outrun her.

This only realistically left one option. I spin around, look Takeda straight into his eyes apologetically, and grab his jacket.

“Takeda-kun. I'm sorry about this.”

I swing him in front of me forcefully and turn him to face his opponent. Yup. No point in delaying the inevitable. I'll deal with the consequences after the fact. Of course, its not like I'm just mindlessly sacrificing him. As quickly as I'm able, I channel some of my own energy around him; a basic protective ward.

It would at the very least keep him from being knocked out.

Hopefully.

Naturally, he didn't take my decision very well.

“Hold on! Were you actually tricking me?! Wait, wait, wait! Lets talk about this!”

He frantically struggled against my grip, rapidly looking back and forth between me and the approaching catastrophe. Peeking from behind him, I watch the charging messenger close the distance. Well, I was actually more timing when I should get out of the way.

Her expression was what I could best describe as crazed. Perhaps, filled with desire would be more accurate. More pressingly for me, I realized once she got closer that I recognized her. Before I could fully process that, though, she finally reached us.

To Takeda's credit, he realized the futility in struggling by now and instead simply braced for the impact. I for one, managed to somehow get out of the way at the last moment.

“Taamaaaa-chaaaan! Where were you hiding this oooone?!”

Yup, I definitely knew that voice. I watch mouth agape as her head collides into Takeda's stomach, arms outstretched in front of her. A rather pitiful 'Geh' barely escapes from his lips as the momentum sends the both of them tumbling past me. They slide to a halt a fair ways down the path we came from.

As the dust settles I see Takeda lying on his back with her straddling his stomach pinning him down with her hands pressed against his chest. He at least looked pretty much unharmed, which means my ward did the trick, but that was now the least of his worries. With what I can only describe as the face of an utter pervert, she was staring down at him. If anything, it looked like she was just a moment away from simply devouring him.

“Kimi?! What are you doing?!”

And yes, I knew her. Which only served to add to my utter confusion. Kimi, this girl apparently in front of me, was supposed to be shy. Excessively so. I often doted on her like a cute little sister I never had. Soft-spoken, cordial, and reserved. That was the Kimi I knew.

“What do you mean, Tama-chan? I just wanted a taste is all~♪”

Tama-_chan_? Who was this? My Kimi was someone who'd quietly greet me with a "Good day, Tama-senpai" with a bow! Where was my cute junior?!

She didn't even turn around to face me when she responded. Instead she was inching her face closer to Takeda's. What, did a limiter release or something?! He seemed to be in pure panic as well and grabbed her shoulders to push her away in a desperate attempt to stop her.

“Wait! Hold on! Wait a minute!”

It was a futile resistance. In terms of pure strength, this was never going to be a contest. Kimi effortlessly continued to advance closer. He turned his head away, face growing ever redder with each passing moment.

As I manage to compose myself over this exceedingly rapid development, I rush over to the two and started pulling Kimi off from Takeda. She was resisting with what seemed like every fiber of her being and even managed to get a peck on his neck before I finally pried her off.

I saw Takeda shudder, probably from the excessive simulation. Where did this carnivore come from? I spin her around to face me and saw an utterly bewitched look on her face. I've never seen an expression even close to this from Kimi before. She was even licking her lips.

“Kimi! What are you doing?!”

"Tama-chan, you know its not good to be greedy~♪"

“No no no, what the hell do you mean by that?”

“Hmmm? You managed to grab this tasty morsel, but it sounds like you don't want to share? Like I saaaid, its not good to be greedy!”

What in the world was she chastising me over? I look past her at Takeda who was now slowly crawling away, still on his back. A meal? No matter how strange it was that a human managed to breach their way into the spirit realm, said human was just simply an average corporate employee by all accounts.

Was there something she could see that I couldn't? I look back to Kimi, who was struggling in my grip to turn herself to look at Takeda. Something was incredibly wrong here. Even the shyest amongst my kind could be rather lascivious when the situation called for it, but this was too much of a 180 from her usual behavior.

In any case, I needed to stop her somehow. I basically had nothing on hand that could restrain her movement for very long and while I’m confident I could keep her at bay physically, its not like I could get help while doing so. Ugh. I basically only had one option: A hex. A sleeping one would do for now.

Normally this would be a type of hex that'd be fairly difficult to do without a complete sneak attack. Its fairly basic, and if you're even simply aware of the caster's presence it makes it rather trivially easy to defend against. That is assuming you're of sound mind, though. Somehow, I reckon her mind was rather preoccupied by something else right now. Bringing one of my hands to the back of her head, I begin to cast.

“Eeeeh? Tama... sen... pai?”

Well, it seems to be working. I let out a weary sigh as I catch her in my arms once the hex takes full effect. I lean her against a nearby tree and look over to the still bewildered Takeda and watch him slowly get up.

“That... that's not normal is it?”

“No, I can assure you that it's not.”

He cautiously approaches me, eyes fixed on Kimi's sleeping figure. The hex once it takes hold is quite effective, so she should be out for a while. What caused this? Who or what exactly was Takeda? Would this happen again if we ran into another one of my kin? Was Kimi an exception, or am I the weird one for not acting like this? Questions filled my head.

I look wearily at the culprit in front of me. This is going to be very tiring.