“The one who gave you your name?” I pondered aloud, the words lingering in the quiet air.

The small white fox nodded slowly, her golden eyes reflecting something distant, memories, perhaps, or a longing that had never faded. “Yeah. She never revealed her real name, so we called her Lumi… because she found us in the winter.” Her tails curled slightly, as if wrapping around an invisible warmth, seeking comfort in the past.

I felt a strange tightness in my chest. There was something undeniably heavy in the way she spoke, as if the name carried an entire lifetime’s worth of emotions, of memories that refused to fade no matter how much time had passed. I swallowed hard, bracing myself for the inevitable question. “And what happened to her?”

Ai lowered her gaze, and for the first time since she had merged with Ai, the glow in her golden eyes dimmed, flickering like a dying ember.

“She died here.” The words came softly, but they carried a weight far greater than their quiet delivery. “We didn’t understand her language, but we could tell… from the way she spoke, from her emotions, from the longing in her eyes. She wanted to go back. To her hometown. A place she called ‘Jap’an.’” Ai’s voice trembled slightly, her small ears folding back as if the mere mention of the past was painful to recall. “But she never made it.”

I sucked in a slow breath, my mind reeling at the familiar yet distorted name. “Jap’an…” I echoed, the syllables feeling strangely foreign yet unmistakably close to home. There was no doubt about it. It was Japan. The name had simply been lost in translation, altered by time and distance, yet it remained. A fragile remnant of something that should not exist in this world.

Ai’s ears perked up slightly at my response, and she lifted her head to gaze at me, her golden eyes searching. “You know it?”

I hesitated for a fraction of a second, but in the end, there was no point in lying. “…Yeah. I do.”

The moment the words left my lips, the flickering light in Ai’s eyes shifted. It wasn’t just a glow anymore. There was something else now, something deeper. Hope? Doubt? Fear? It was hard to tell, but I could feel the weight of her emotions pressing against me.

She took a cautious step forward, her tails curling in tightly. Her voice came out quieter this time, almost hesitant. “Then… are you…?” She trailed off, the question left unfinished, as if she was afraid of the answer. Afraid of what it might mean.

Just before I could respond, the ground beneath us trembled violently, a deep, unsettling rumble shaking the very foundations of the shrine. My breath caught in my throat as a chill ran down my spine.

“Wha–” My words barely escaped before my balance wavered, my instincts screaming at me to brace myself. Before panic could take hold, a firm yet reassuring grip enveloped my hand. I turned to see Yuzu beside me, her usual carefree expression now replaced with sharp, unwavering focus.

Her dark black eyes flickered toward the shrine’s entrance, the open door trembling slightly from the quake. She tightened her grip on my hand, anchoring me in place.

“Yuzu bery felt magic. It bery came from outside,” she murmured, her voice quieter than usual, yet tense with caution.

Outside. My stomach twisted at the realization. Catherine and Yuki were still out there.

“It must be Catherine and Yuki!” I blurted out, my heart hammering against my ribs. A wave of fear surged through me, and without thinking, I tried to run toward the entrance. I had to get to them, I had to help. But before I could take a single step, Yuzu’s grip tightened.

“Bery red witch is bery strong level 330 witch,” she said firmly, her voice calm yet insistent. “Mashiro bery should notto worry and bery stay here and trust.”

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I clenched my teeth, frustration bubbling inside me. I hated feeling powerless. Every part of me wanted to fight that instinct and rush outside, to make sure my friends were safe. But the way Yuzu looked at me. The quiet confidence in her gaze. made my steps falter.

Before I could argue further, she released my hand and, with a single motion, materialized her katana into her free one. The polished blade shimmered under the dim shrine light, its presence commanding and sharp.

“Yuzu will bery go and check,” she declared, taking a step toward the entrance.

“Yuzu, wait!” I screamed, my voice filled with urgency just before she could take another step toward the entrance. My pulse raced as I grabbed onto her sleeve, my grip tightening as if I could physically hold her back from charging headfirst into the unknown. “What if it’s another one of those NONO things? You and Catherine wouldn’t be able to handle it alone! Let me join you!”

There was a brief moment of hesitation. Yuzu’s dark eyes flickered toward me, her brows furrowing slightly as if she were weighing my words carefully. Her ears twitched, her tails swishing behind her in deep contemplation. For a few seconds, the only sounds between us were the lingering echoes of the tremor and my own rapid breathing. Then, with a resigned sigh, she finally relented.

“Fine,” she muttered, though her tone carried a hint of reluctant acceptance. “But Mashiro bery stick closer to Yuzu, oki?” Her warning was firm, her gaze locking onto mine as if to emphasize the seriousness of her words.

I barely had time to nod in agreement when, suddenly, a blur of white fur shot through the air. Ai leapt straight toward me, her tiny body colliding with my chest. Instinctively, I caught her, cradling the small nine-tailed fox in my arms. Her soft fur brushed against my skin, but something about her felt different, tense, alert. Her golden eyes, usually filled with mischief, now held an intensity that sent a shiver down my spine.

“It’s… her,” Ai muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

A chill settled in my bones. “Her?” I echoed, my fingers unconsciously tightening around her small form. “Who is it, Ai?”

The fox didn’t answer immediately. She simply stared, her glowing golden irises burning into mine. Then, she spoke again, her tone eerily calm.

“You know who.”

My mind scrambled for an answer, but nothing concrete came to me. Who could she possibly mean? My heart pounded as I racked my brain, trying to piece together anything that might make sense.

“Unless the one you’re talking about is bald and doesn’t have a nose,” I said with a nervous chuckle, “then I have no idea.”

Ai didn’t react to my weak attempt at humor. She merely narrowed her eyes, the golden glow in them intensifying.

“It’s the witch you saw on the hologram,” she said, her voice steady and unwavering.

The moment Ai uttered the words, Yuzu reacted with blinding speed. Before I could even process what was happening, she had wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close in a protective embrace. I barely caught a glimpse of something circular, glowing, shifting, just at the edge of my vision before a sudden force yanked the ground away from beneath us.

A dizzying sensation overwhelmed me as I felt myself falling. The world spun in a blur, and my breath hitched as Yuzu held me tightly, Ai’s small body pressed between us. Just seconds ago, we had been inside the shrine, but now, without warning, we were tumbling through open air. My mind barely had time to register the shift before my eyes caught fleeting images, Catherine, Yuki, just before we hit the ground.

"Waaa, I’m falling!" The impact wasn’t far, maybe five meters or so, but the landing was anything but soft. Pain jolted through my body as I crashed onto the rough terrain, the shock leaving me momentarily breathless. Before I could recover, my gaze snapped upward, just in time to see several glowing projectiles slicing through the air toward us.

I barely had a second to react before Yuzu shifted, twisting her body to shield me. A sharp thud followed as the magic collided with her back instead of me.

"Yuzu!" I gasped, reaching for her, but she simply let out a low growl, her ears twitching as if the pain meant nothing.

"Heh." A smooth, mocking voice rang through the open air. "I could sense your presence while you were trying to sniff me out, you dumb fox."

My heart pounded as I looked up. There, floating effortlessly above us, was a witch draped in regal purple robes embroidered with golden patterns. Her presence was commanding, and the condescending smirk playing on her lips sent a chill down my spine.

Opposite her, Catherine hovered in midair as well, her crimson cloak billowing in the wind. Her staff was already raised, magic brimming at her fingertips, her expression cold and unreadable as she faced down the floating witch.