Reine's calm words carried an undeniable resolve: "...Hmm, it'll be troublesome if Miss Kotori keeps staring. Let's go quickly."
She briefly glanced at the increasingly sparse crowd around them, then turned without hesitation, walking briskly towards the school building's entrance, which was in a different direction from the flow of evacuees.
"Uh, ah, wait--"
Shido looked at Reine's decisive back, then at Tohka, who was still holding his hand, her eyes filled with reliance and confusion, and he struggled internally.
Although he was extremely worried about letting Tohka go to the shelter alone, Reine's analysis was correct.
The risk of Tohka witnessing the AST's battle with a Spirit, stimulating her sealed memories and powers, was simply too great.
Moreover, they now had a more important mission that they had to execute immediately.
"...Ugh!" Shido irritably ran his hand through his hair, finally making up his mind.
He squeezed Tohka's hand tightly, then led her to Miss Kotori, who was anxiously urging people along.
"Teacher," Shido gently placed Tohka's hand into Miss Kotori's, his tone solemn, "I'm entrusting Tohka to you."
"Eh? Huh? Ah, yes... yes, of course!"
Miss Kotori, who was suddenly entrusted with a student, widened her eyes in surprise, but her sense of responsibility as a teacher immediately made her straighten her small frame and nod vigorously in promise.
"I'm a teacher, you know! Protecting my students is my duty!"
"Shido...?"
Tohka looked at Shido's actions, feeling the unease of impending separation, and slowly frowned, her purple eyes filled with confusion and a hint of panic.
"Tohka, listen carefully!"
Shido placed both hands on Tohka's shoulders, looked directly into her eyes, and admonished her in as steady a tone as possible, "Go with the teacher to the shelter. It's very safe there."
"What about Shido? What will Shido do?" Tohka asked anxiously, her hand unconsciously grabbing Shido's sleeve.
"Ah... I..." Shido paused, his eyes flickering, and in the end, he could only give a vague answer.
"I have something important to take care of. So you go first, okay? I'll be back very soon."
He couldn't tell Tohka the truth; he could only temporarily appease her this way.
"Ah! Shi... Shido!" Tohka watched Shido let go of her hand and turn to leave, unable to help but cry out.
At the same time, Miss Kotori also anxiously called out: "Itsuka-san, and Miss Murasame and Chinatsu-san! Where exactly are you going? It's dangerous outside!"
Just as Tohka tightly clutched Shido's sleeve, her eyes full of anxiety and attachment, and Shido steeled himself to pull away in a flash of lightning--
"Wait!"
Koushi slid between Shido and Tohka. He suddenly turned around to face Tohka, his right hand shooting up dramatically, fingers spread as if to grasp the sky, while his left hand rested on his chest, striking an extremely exaggerated yet somehow imposing pose.
He tilted his head slightly, his black hair seemingly moving without wind, and a smile mixed with extreme confidence and reassurance, like a stage play protagonist, appeared on his face. In his clear and deliberately heightened voice, he declared to Tohka:
"Rest assured, Kin of the Night! Your worries, I have received them all!"
He maintained that pose, his gaze fixed on Tohka's still uneasy purple eyes.
"By the name of this body, 'Mysterious Undead Dark Magician,' I swear! I shall bring your important contractor--Itsuka Shido--back from the chaotic battlefield completely unharmed!"
"Any calamity or formidable foe that dares to obstruct our path shall be reduced to dust by my ultimate arcana!"
His words were overflowing with chuunibyou, but beneath the extreme exaggeration, there was an undeniable certainty and powerful confidence, as if he truly possessed the power to turn the tide.
"Therefore."
Koushi's tone softened slightly, with a hint of reassurance, and he winked at Tohka, "For now, follow this human guide. (He pointed to Miss Kotori.)
Proceed to a safe haven and await good news! This is the joint battle of the 'Dark Flame Master' and the 'Undead Dark Magician,' and the formula for victory has already been written!"
After speaking, without waiting for Tohka to fully digest this "declaration of victory," he suddenly turned, slapped the still-dazed Shido hard on the back, and whispered loudly:
"Let's go, Shido! The stage of destiny calls us!"
Then, he, Shido, and Reine rushed out of the school building without looking back.
Tohka, left behind, looked at Koushi's strangely inexplicable but incredibly firm back, and the words he left behind that were like a calming pill. The panic and unease in her eyes actually dissipated quite a bit.
Although she didn't quite understand the specific meaning of those chuunibyou terms, she could feel Koushi's determination to convey, "I will definitely protect Shido."
She nodded gently and murmured a soft "Mm," her hand, which had been tightly clutching Shido's sleeve, slowly relaxed and instead grasped the corner of Miss Kotori's clothes, obediently following the teacher towards the shelter.
Her gaze, however, still reluctantly followed the direction where Shido and Koushi had disappeared until their figures completely merged into the shadows of the corridor.
Koushi's impromptu, personal chuunibyou reassurance successfully gave Tohka a peculiar yet effective sense of security during that tense and chaotic moment of farewell.
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