After returning to the city, the girl looked to the side. The boy silently walked with her, his hands in his pockets. And the awkwardness of having a material shadow was starting to get to her.

'Do you want to go anywhere?'

The boy nodded, his eyes all but glued to the ground below. But he showed no signs of straying away from her.

"What should I do with this?"

She understood that he felt bad about the gap between his expectations and the result. And that he thought hard of a way to salvage the situation.

But even though she didn't want to land the finishing blow, this was going nowhere. And right now neither of them enjoyed each other's company.

"You are so stubborn."

Tsune looked around for an excuse to separate. If she just went to a shop, or a cafe, he would probably join her and this tense atmosphere would continue. Therefore she needed something else...

Not far ahead of them she saw a building whose front had holographic palm trees around a pool of steamy water. A  hot spring bath.

It was a perfect way for them to split without hurting anyone's feelings.

'I'll go relax in the spring, okay? I'm all covered in dust and I'm really tired.'

After his silent nod and a mild horizontal handshake, the girl left him in the street.

-

Walking to the counter Tsune was slightly worried.The memories, that she brought into this world, pictured hot springs as places for lasciviousness. But the counter lady looked welcoming and the in-house swimsuit and robe were pretty modest.

And as the time went on, her worries were replaced by the feeling of light boredom.

'I guess you need to come with friends for this place to be fun.'

Nevertheless, the bath and massage proved the myth that they could rest even the most stressed out and tired adventurer. And this night she slept like a rock.

-

Next morning, Tsune stretched after waking up. And was immediately treated to a face full of her own clothes, thrown by the other girl who was about to leave.

'Don't put your clothes on top of mine. It messes up everything.'

Despite the rudeness, the blonde was almost grateful for the interruption. It offered an extra step to her mind to go through, as it progressed from serenity to remembering that the monster's attack was today.

And with memories of yesterday's trip fresh in her mind, she all but scowled as something welled up in her heart.

"Hero whose heart and back is wider anyone else's, huh."

It was certain that the visit to the old man failed. Not only did she fail to ask him of anything, he continued to angrily shout at them. And would've went further if it wasn't for his fit.

Tsune threw the sheets to the side and stood up to dress. Her movements were abrupt and rough, as the memory of a gnarled old figure, that tried to contain the cough with both hands, refused to leave. It was so far from what she expected, her emotions threatened to overflow.

"Compassionate leader."

"Warrior that defeated a hundred enemies."

"A beacon of courage for his generation."

This stream of half statements, half complaints came out without end, fanning the flame of her emotions until they were released in a shout.

'I bet today's monster is as much of a lie as that old man is!'

Opening the door with a lot more force than was required, the blonde went out for breakfast.

-

Walking through the street, Tsune barely looked around as even the environment fed into her annoyance.

The straight street was easy to walk through, but it was done to make all of the shops and customers visible from all sides. Nothing could hide anywhere.

The people were too noisy, carelessly walking, or gathering near the street artists to be extra noisy.

The light from buildings was too bright and glamorous, The holograms were too pushy and overstated their importance to the outside viewers. And the prisms she admired yesterday looked like a hazard.

None of them were secured and most of them even jutted outside, precariously balanced on the edge of their holds. It looked like all it would take to hurt people beneath was a strong gust of wind.

And worst of all, there were no uniforms in the streets. Not that she wanted to meet any, but who would take charge if anything happens!?

-

Already at the central square, Tsune turned around. Beneath her was a beautiful jewel of a city. And as she took in the view, trying to imprint it into her memory, she caught herself. She wasn't just sightseeing on her way here. She judged everything from a defense perspective.

"Ah, why do I care! Even if I tell somebody that a monster might attack, nobody would believe me."

But the feeling of wrongness kept gnawing at the girl during her lonely breakfast. The blonde knew what would happen and it was like a thorn in her side.

Tsune rubbed her cheeks as she thought about the cause for her behavior.

"Was I wrong yesterday about the script? But if I can't pilot it, the event trigger is not set, right? Therefore it can't happen."

"Wait, Hem checked the robot status yesterday and I forgot to ask about results, so it might be triggered without me knowing."

"But do I have to go to the old man? I'll look for the government here and tell them to call a robot here. I can use my family name to increase the chances of them listening."

"But If I'm wrong about the mechamonster, I'll cause trouble for my parents. And that old man might've reported us."

The girl imagined the expressions her father and mother might have and shivered. She prefered to think it was because of the sudden gust of morning wind, but summoning them here for a bail out was very low on her to do list.

"My father will most likely believe me. But whatever he does might be so overboard that it'll completely ruin the vacation for everyone here. Everyone will be alive, but Aery was already worried about me being a danger."

"If Den has connections, he can call a pilot team here. But it will probably cut the vacation short and others might think that Hem antagonized me with date attempt. And if he took yesterday this hard, the guy might just quit."

"Either way, my chances of staying in this team will be shot."

Reaching the end of her limited options, the girl sighed and dropped the napkin she kept her hands busy with. She liked neither of those outcomes.

She had the final choice left. Just ignoring the chance that the monster might come and letting things flow naturally.

If it came, the authorities would deal with it and the aftermath. If it didn't, her vacation will continue to be a cherished experience.

-

"This is like a self fulfilling prophecy."

Throttling the hover bike she just rented, the blonde couldn't help but to rant. But sitting on the sides when there was something she could do, reeked of a coward's choice. It was a betrayal of what she believed in both of her lives.

'Hero, are you there?'

Tsune bashed the gates as she called out.

'I need to talk to you. This city is in danger.'

Met with nothing but silence, the girl struck the gates again with the same result.

"Is he in that basement?"

-

Lifting the trap door, the blonde descended into a clean room with glass cases alongside its walls.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

They held detailed mech figures, full sized costumes with a lot of wear and tear, strange machine parts from different materials and rows upon rows of photos that covered the walls around the displays. The far wall was taken by a screen that displayed the city map and a table with the familiar gnarled figure.

'You really are the hero.'

Hearing her voice, the old man spun around, dropping his photo album, and darted for a long metal pipe not far away.

'W-wait, I don't mean anything bad, you just didn't hear anything when I knocked. I need your help to protect the city!'

Her opponent lowered his weapon too look at the screen, before resuming the combat stance.

'Who do you take me for? I might be old, but these bones have enough fight in them!'

'Please, let me explain! It didn't happen yet, but the mechamonster will attack today.'

'What are you talking about? I'm not in the mood to deal with fantasies.'

'I want you to be ready to pilot again to protect the city. It will come before the evening. Just that!'

'Listen to me, girl...'

'No, you listen to me!'

The sight of one her favorite heroes about to attack was too much for Tsune and she snapped back.

'I'm a tourist, so I can't say I care about the people, or the city. I don't even know them. And there's a chance that nothing will happen today.'

'But if that monster comes and wrecks the city because I did nothing when I could, my conscience will never let me forget this! What kind of a pilot would I be if I didn't even try.'

'I understood yesterday that you've changed and I don't have my assistant device. But there must be a way to protect the city with that robot of yours.'

~clunk~

The old man threw the pipe back into its corner and, dusting his hands off, looked at the display case with his old red and yellow costume.

'You are either crazy, or devious, but you have heart. What is your name, girl?'

'Tsune.'

'I didn't lie yesterday when I said that my assistant device was stolen. And without it, the robot above is nothing but a memorial.'

'B-but, who could steal it from you?! What villain is so powerful that nobody wouldn't even try to get it back?'

The blonde was at the loss of words. Both because this proved that her actions did matter and because there was somebody above the hero. The man who once held enough power to be called a god or a demon.

Her opponent's expression changed into a sad smile and he turned around to pick up his album.

'It wasn't a villain, Tsune. Just a boy who didn't want to wait to save the world.'

'Now leave me be, or I'll really call law enforcement.'

-

Once again outside the hangar, the girl walked with plenty of spring in her step. Try as they might, the age and baggy clothing could not hide the traces of the classic hero she remembered. She couldn't ask any of her trivia questions but she was fine with it.

"Man, I wish I could photo everything in that museum. Most of the fans would do almost everything for even a single one."

Tsune kicked a small rusty piece over the cliff's edge as she let disappointment be replaced by relief. She took out her phone to send a message to one of the few numbers it had.

"Now, I did everything I could, so its vacation time."

A minute later, she received a reply from Aery, saying that everyone already waited for her at the beach.

-

Laying on the beach towel under an opaque umbrella, Tsune watched the sea with half closed eyes. She had to lie on her back, but she quickly solved that problem by arranging her team's street clothing into a pillow. Metal parts and buckles on boy clothing were uncomfortable, but she imagined that she laid on a sand hill and those were  pebbles.

'Hey, Tsune, want an ice cream?'

Hem's face suddenly intruded her line of sight, together with a phone screen that showed flavour icons.

The girl glanced at them and her attention returned to the sea outside of the distant row of concrete pillars.

A thought related to her recent language experiment floated to her mind's surface, but she was too lazy to entertain it. Besides, she had no objective way to find out if this world's flavours were different from her own.

'Choose for me, okay?'

-

An hour later, the team was in the beach cafe when a loud sound came from the sea. The clients grew quiet until one of them almost jumped to their feet.

'Look!'

One of the wave breaker pillars crashed into the sea, surrounded by a pillar of water.

Several seconds later, all of the screens, that usually transmitted popular music and sport events, turned red. And their speakers released a metallic sound. It started off quiet to avoid shocking anyone but quickly rose to be heard everywhere on the beach.

-Warning. Everyone please exit the water and go to the city in an organized...-

The message was suddenly cut short and replaced by a new one.

-Warning. Emergency signal received. Zodiac team is inbound.-

"Zodiac?"

Tsune looked back to the city to see if a battleship was in the sky, then she noticed that people outside pointed straight up.

Rushing outside of the cafe, the blonde looked up. Far above, she saw a radiant star of reentry, that was too small for a combat spaceship.

-Libra-

An unknown male voice came from the speakers, followed by the robotic announcer.

-Warning, Supersonic shockwave in fifteen seconds, it is advised to cover your ears to avoid temporary damage to hearing-

-

With her blonde hair fluttering in the wind that came after the deafening clap, Tsune opened her eyes. She saw a giant pillar of water that rose around another destroyed pillar. But this time, the falling water turned into a whirpool that dug into the sea surface.

Soon, the water inside was low enough to reveal a giant claw. Covered by matte metal with mineral inclusions, it was about to descend on the remains of the wave breaker wall. Massive enough to crush it without even token resistance, it was thrown to the side as if struck away by an invisible force.

The crab monster's screech made the air around it ripple, revealing that it was trapped in eye of a newly formed whirlwind. It skiddled across the sea floor to ram its way to freedom, but it was too late.

-Libra release-

All of the water, contained inside of the walls of wind, came crashing towards the center. Like a hydraulic hammer crushing an aluminum can, it pulverised the stone parts into dust and bent the metal into an absurdly shaped statue.

Forming the most massive pillar yet, the spent water threatened to roll over the beach. But a blue beam pierced it from top to bottom, freezing it in an instant.

-Aquarius-

This time, the voice came not from the speakers but from the mech that finally descended from the orbit and gently landed on the ice. Using the cloud of steam, released by its feet melting the frozen surface, it projected a huge Zodiac emblem before the beach audience. After the eruption of applause died down, the pilot spoke.

-I, the Air Sign of the Zodiac team, am very glad that all of you are safe and sound. The mechamonster will be collected later, so please do not exit the swim area shown on your devices.-

-Oh, yeah, almost forgot. Thanks for the heads up to my old man.-

The mech gave a thumbs up towards the old hangar, that was barely visible from here. Then its engines released a whirring sound and twin plumes of flame carried the fifteen meter tall robot back into space.