“I hope you’re feeling proud of yourself.” Professor Toei said. His voice was calm, his tone was still polite, but James knew when he was being told off.

  “You put everybody's lives at risk for a half-baked heist that turned out to be a trap,” Professor Toei said.

  James winced, but he needed to be made of sterner stuff if he was going to save the world.

  “If we hadn’t, then Amilie’s team would have made off with their sword, and we wouldn’t have known the compass could be wrong,” James objected. “And we wouldn’t have gotten to work with potential allies.”

  “Allies? You told me Kana broke that girl’s arm.”

  “She seemed pretty happy about it, though. I don’t think she’s going to bear a grudge.”

  “One of those, then.” Professor Toei frowned. “Perhaps it ended up for the best, although from the sound of it, gaining that artifact would have aided us greatly.”

  “It wasn’t ours, though.”

  Professor Toei chuckled. “The Order hasn’t had possession of the keys for ten thousand years. I doubt there’s any government that would honour our claims of ownership. The best we can hope for is that they have been lost for centuries, waiting for us to uncover them.”

  “Wait, we’re going to have to steal them? I mean…” James trailed off, uncertain of what he did mean. Professor Toei looked at him with curiosity.

  “What did you think you were doing when you raided that building?” he asked.

  “Well, it’s not really stealing if it didn’t belong to them in the first place, right?” James tried. Professor Toei sighed.

  “It’s rarely that simple, as our interaction with the Hirasaka Agency should have taught you. Negotiation has its place, but in the end, we’re fighting to save the world from destruction.”

  “I guess it is kind of complicated,” James allowed.

  “Which is why you shouldn’t rush in!” Toei admonished. “Adequate intelligence takes time, but it wins wars.”

  “I suppose. Am I going to get detention for this?”

  “No. This didn’t take place on school grounds or on an official school trip, so detention would be inappropriate. Just learn from this, and don’t make the same mistake again.”

  “Yes, Professor.”

  “This is so exciting!”

  James looked a little askance at the student who’d spoken. Takamine Ren had seemed like a sober, buttoned-down Japanese student every other time James had spoken to him. Looking at him now, James would have thought Ren was drunk—if that hadn’t been completely impossible. His collar was loose, his hair was dishevelled, and he was carrying a pair of glowsticks.

  He looked like about half the guys who were filling up the cafeteria. The other half—and the girls—were dressed much more normally. Which was to say they were following the dress code, except for a few delinquents who always wore their uniforms like that.

  James spotted a pair of them at the back. Well, Matsuri wasn’t a delinquent yet. James felt it was only a matter of how much longer she spent hanging out with Shion. Matsuri noticed him looking and pulled her eyelid down at him. Shion, ever a student of the international language of offence, gave him the finger.

  “I can’t believe I’m going out with her!” Ren enthused in James’s ear. James nodded understandingly. He couldn’t believe it either. He wasn’t sure if the older student had latched on to him because James was the only one who knew who he was dating, or if James was the only one left he could brag about it to.

  Since he wasn’t sure if it was a secret or not, he just kept it vague.

  “You’re a lucky guy,” he said, clapping Ren on the back. He didn’t mind how much Ren bragged about Kana; it just reminded James that he had Suki.

  That was why he was hoping that Mitsue was… James froze.

  Mitsue had entered the cafeteria with a date, one that was definitely not a student.

  Sundhara, interdimensional invader, was wearing a crop top and a brightly coloured sarong and hanging onto Mitsue’s arm. The goofy grin on Mitsue’s face could have been mind control, but it was more likely to be the way she was pushing her chest against him.

  James tried to casually wander over. He doubted he was fooling anybody.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked through a fake smile.

  “Hallo, oppressor,” Sundhara said with a grin.

  “It’s fine,” Mitsue assured him. “This is a supervised excursion.”

  “I’m pretty sure the supervisor isn’t supposed to be making out with the prisoner,” James said quietly.

  Mitsue’s grin only got wider.

  “Do you think that’s a possibility?” he said. “I’ve never been to an idol concert before, is that the sort of thing that happens?”

  “You never know your luck, big guy,” Sundahara said. She snuggled in closer, and Mitsue put his arm around her bare waist.

  “This is all going wonderfully,” Mitsue declared.

  “This is a mistake,” James groaned. “Does Midoriko-senpai know about this?”

  “I got permission,” Mitsue said. “She gave me a look, but she allowed it.”

  A sudden burst of coloured light and a cheer from the crowd announced that the show was about to start.

  “Relax,” Sundhara drawled. “It’s not like I’m going to start something with those monsters here.”

  She stared at the stage where the girls were coming on, each bathed in their own colour of spotlight.

  “Such terrifying creatures… and you make them sing and dance?”

  “We don’t make them,” James said. “They want to. For fun.”

  She shuddered. “That might be even more horrifying. Hey, Mitsue-kun, I think I’ve changed my mind about seeing the concert. Why don’t we find some place more private?”

  “That’s a great idea,” Mitsue said. “I know lots of hiding places on campus.”

  James winced, but let them go. He had to get back to the performance. Junko had taken the stage.

  Like all the girls, she was in costume. She had a black-feathered crow half-mask and long black wig that faded to blue at the tips. Her dress was black and form-fitting, with a long slit down the side. The iridescent feather boa and electric-blue opera gloves were the final touch.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for gathering here today for the debut performance of our idol unit, Tsuki?Hana.”

  Junko paused, bumping the mike slightly.

  “As students of this academy, we all strive for excellence, and we hope our performance will be worthy of your time. So, um… please let your hearts go kyun-kyun for us…”

  “Reira-chan!”

  The call went up from a few people in the room. James was confused until he remembered that Riera was her VTuber persona’s name. Junko waved to the shouting fans.

  “Yes, hello. Please enjoy our first song, Moonlit Bloom, First Light.”

  The music started playing, and the girls stepped forward, but James only had eyes for Suki. She started singing and then…

  …and then…

  …she was next to him?

  James started, as if he’d awoken from a dream.

  I know this place, he thought. They were sitting on the terrace of the hotel back in Okinawa. Back then, it had been too hectic to find the time to just sit on the chairs and watch the sunset… but that was what they were doing now.

  “Suki?” James asked. “What’s going on?”

  She smiled nervously. “I promised I’d tell you everything at the concert, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, but… what are you telling me?”

  “This…” Suki gestured all around them. “This is how I know things that I shouldn’t. How I knew about the Vaikarana Dominion and so many other things.”

  “This… beach?”

  “This world,” Suki said. Suddenly, they were standing at the rocky point of their second date, looking out over the ocean in the moonlight. “It’s… my dream, I suppose. And I can bring other people into it when they listen to me perform.”

  “Not that I’m complaining, but shouldn’t the rest of the crowd be here, then? Have you shoved them all into a shopping mall or something?”

  Suki giggled. “No, it’s one at a time. It’s just you and me here.”

  “Then—wait, are you still singing while you’re talking to me? Am I staring into space?”

  “No, there’s no time in the dream,” Suki said. “We can spend as long as we like here, and return to the moment we left.”

  Something at the back of James’s mind was stirring at the combination of “as long as we like” and “just you and me here”, but he tried to focus on more material things.

  “So, when you uncovered the Vaikarana agents, it was because you brought them in here? How did you know to do it?”

  “I didn’t! I was really surprised when Nakula showed up with blue skin and alien tech devices. I brought in everyone who was watching.”

  “Everyone! There were more than a hundred people there!”

  “Two-hundred and thirty-eight,” Suki said. “No time, remember? I’m used to bringing in my entire audience by now. Most of the time, it’s just a way to get to know them, but sometimes…”

  “Wait, there’s something more, isn’t there? None of the Vaikarana agents knew what you’d done.”

  Suki nodded. “When the dream ends, I get to decide if they remember it or not.”

  “So, wait…” James thought back to that karaoke concert. “That’s why you apologised… this isn’t the first time you brought me into your dream, is it?”

  “Yes. I thought I was ready, but… I wasn’t. I’m sorry for removing the memories, but… they didn’t really happen.”

  James frowned. Did he miss what he’d never had? What had never really existed?

  “Can we go back to the hotel?” he asked. Without any kind of transition, they were there, looking at the sunset. He relaxed back into his chair.

  “Can I get some kind of fruity drink?” Suki pointed to where the drink already was, sitting on a side table that James was almost certain hadn’t been there before. He raised his eyebrows and took a sip of the drink. It was delicious. He turned his mind back to his questions.

  “What went wrong?” he asked. “Did I react badly?”

  “You were fine, I was the one who wasn’t ready,” Suki said, looking away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Alright, fine,” James agreed. “Those agents… You interrogated them?”

  Suki nodded. “I can’t read minds or make anyone do something they don’t want to do,” she said. “I can’t even hurt them, not really. But I can make it very uncomfortable for them until they start talking to me.”

  “It must have taken forever.”

  “Weeks. Months, maybe.”

  “And all in the time it took you to sing one song,”

  “It was a pretty long song. I was really impatient in the second half for it to end so I could warn Midoriko-senpai.”

  James laughed. “That’s so ridiculous. So do you know all of that guy’s secrets as well?”

  “No,” Suki looked away again. “His daughter, his business partners, but never him. I was terrified that he could use some of his powers in it. And just as terrified at the thought of him finding out about it.”

  She shivered. James got out of his chair and held her.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up,” he said. She leaned into his embrace.

  “It’s fine. Don’t stop, this is nice.”

  James suddenly became aware that Suki was wearing the bikini she had worn to the beach that day. And that he was just wearing his bathers. Her warm, soft flesh was touching his bare skin in multiple places.

  The phrases “as long as we like” and “just you and me here” started to stir at the back of his mind again.

  “How long,” he said slowly, “Were you thinking we should stay here?”

  He drew her up, out of the chair, so they were embracing standing up. She was looking up at him and not saying anything, so he kissed her. He could hardly not when she looked like that.

  “As long as you like,” she breathed.

  James ran his hand down the curve of her bare back, pulling her closer to him. Other parts of her were looking particularly kissable right now. The hollow beneath her ear, the nape of her neck. She let him do it, her breath becoming deeper.

  It occurred to him that conjuring up a bed for them would be just as easy for her. He took a deep breath.

  “I think it would be really dangerous if we stayed here a second longer.”

  “Step by step, heart to heart, we turn silver nights to morning!”

  He was back, letting the lights and sounds wash over him. Suki was there, dancing and singing. She glanced over and winked at him.

  James sighed with relief.

  That was the right decision, then.

  He’d wanted to do more, and he’d sensed that Suki wanted to as well, but something told him it was still too early. Part of him was berating himself for not going further, but his real concern was that Suki would be upset. She wasn’t, so everything could be worked out later.

  The song came to an end, and Harue jumped out in front. She was “in disguise”, James supposed, with her ears and tails showing. She was wearing a bomber jacket patterned with cherry blossoms and paw prints, layered over a frilly crop top with a glittery heart. Her skirt was short and pleated, and she had striped thigh-high socks and bright orange platform sneakers.

  “Yattaaa! That was just the warm-up, everyone! If you’re not awake yet, don’t worry—Tsuki?Hana is here to shake the sleep right out of you! Now—before we blast into the next song—let’s introduce ourselves properly!”

  The crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheering. Harue jumped up and down and waved.

  “I’m contractually obliged to start with our glorious president! You know her as Kanzenshou-sama, so bow down and show your devotion!”

  Far from bowing down, a section of the crowd—mostly from the dishevelled group—started cheering and waving their purple glowsticks furiously. Ren was one of the most enthusiastic.

  Kana was in her half-dragon form, dressed in an indigo cheongsam with high-slitted sides. Embroidery in frosted white and gold made it seem like it was covered in scales. She waved imperiously at the crowd and winked at Ren.

  “Did you see that!” Ren enthused. “Can you believe it?”

  “I can’t,” James admitted, and it was true. Kana had learned to flirt from somewhere. Now, no one was safe.

  “Next is the one you already met! You know her, you love her, it’s Karasu Reira!

  Reira’s family name meant crow, James noted, which explained the black feathers. Junko looked a little lost at the cheering, but she rallied magnificently and bowed to her fans, who were waving blue sticks.

  There was a lot of crossover between blue and purple fans, James realised. In fact, most of the crowd were carrying at least two colours.

  Then Suki stepped forward, and the stage was bathed in crimson.

  “The Demon Princess,” Harue said, putting on a hushed voice to deliver the VTuber lore. “An idol before humanity evolved, come to bask in our adulation, it’s AkaOni!

  Suki was wearing the same costume she’d taken to Harajuku. The disguise hadn’t worked, but it had already been promoted, and the girls were enjoying the virtual idol aspect. Her red demon mask seemed to glow in the red spotlight that centred on her. She unfolded a fan in each hand and gave a slow, refined twirl, moving the fans about her as she did so.

  The crowd went wild, and James went right along with them. He hadn’t planned to, but it was suddenly unacceptable that anyone should be shouting their support louder than he was. He only came back to himself when Ren grabbed him by the shoulders.

  “Easy, big guy!” the older student shouted over the cheers. “I’ve been to a few of these; you have to pace yourself.”

  James stared at the older boy, confused. His heart was pounding, he could smell his sweat, and the sweat of everybody else in the room.

  “This is great!” he yelled, taken by the excitement. Ren laughed and pointed him back at the stage.

  James realised that he’d missed the introductions for Toudou Ema and Shimada Kaori. Dressed as a rabbit swordswoman and a catgirl, they were jumping up and down on the stage, waving at the fans. They hadn’t had their VTuber debuts yet; the idea had been to stage them with a week between each one.

  “That just leaves me!” Harue called. “My debut as a VTuber is tomorrow! From now on, you can all know me as Hinakitsu☆Pop!”

  The intro for the next song had started, but Harue was still jumping up and down, pumping the crowd up.

  “Everyone pay attention to meeee!” she shouted. Then she dashed back to take her place in the lineup. They started to sing.

  “When the dawn bells ring,

  our hearts leap forward in perfect rhythm.”

  “Pace yourself, remember!” Ren yelled at James.

  James nodded. The show was only getting started.