Mako paced about her dorm room restlessly. She looked at her watch, which read 16:04. "Where could that girl be?" Mako wondered. "She called almost an hour ago. I told her not to come back too late." Mako went to the window so that she would see Himeko if she came back. However, nothing could have prepared Mako for what she saw when she opened the curtains: I gigantic, spherical machine hovering toward the school. Although it had to be at least a mile away, it was so large that Mako could see it easily. It had to be as large as the entire Ototachibana Academy complex! The sun was behind it, so Mako could only make out its silhouette. However, Mako's view of the gigantic mech did not last long as she was soon knocked unconscious by a bolt of yellow light shooting from the monster, hitting the school, creating a shockwave that caused the dormitory to cave in around her! "School goes boom!" a high, squeaky voice came from the mech as it continued its approach toward the school. Nekoko was about to destroy the rest of the dormitory when a fierce, female voice came from behind her, yelling, "Get lost, Orochi!" Before the small catgirl could turn around to see what was behind her, her mech was tipped over by something kicking it in the back. "Ouch!" said Nekoko as she got back up and turned around to look at Chikane's mech. "That hurt, nya!" "Don't you get near that school, you hear me?" Chikane yelled. "Oops, too late, hahahahahahaha!" said Nekoko with a childish laugh. "Oh no," Himeko said, noticing the pile of debris that the dormitory had been reduced to. "Mako..." She looked at Chikane and asked, "Are we too late?" "Go find Makoto," Chikane said. "There's a chance she's still alive. Don't worry, I'll protect you." Himeko nodded. The portal opened in front of her and Himeko jumped out and descended to the ground in front of Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. As soon as she landed, Himeko ran toward the remains of the dormitory. "The Solar Priestess is running on her feet, nya," Nekoko said to herself. "So stupid." Nekoko's mech opened up the barrels on its arms and aimed them at Himeko as Nekoko cried out in joy, "Priestess goes boom!" However, Chikane rushed toward Nekoko's mech and punched its left arm as hard as she could. The metallic arm was crushed, bending toward the mech's body. However, Nekoko did not have enough time to stop from firing and a large hole was left in her mech's body. "NYAAAAA!!!!!" Nekoko screamed at seeing what had happened. "Look what you did, you big meanie!" the girl screamed at Chikane. "You're going to pay for that!" "Not when you have an injury like that," Chikane said. Meanwhile, Himeko was searching through the rubble frantically. "Come on, Mako," she said tears in her eyes. "Where are you? Please, still be alive." Nekoko temporarily repaired her mech by extending white strands of energy from its bottom-left and bottom-right, wrapping the left-hand strand around the body, sticking through the large hole and coming out the front, filling the hole. "Go, Izuhara no Tamazuchi," Nekoko commanded. "Destroy the Lunar Priestess!" The mech rushed toward Chikane's other self, lashing at it with its energy strands like they were whips. Chikane blocked the strands with Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's arms. However, as the two mechs fought, the left strand of energy managed to wrap itself around Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's right arm, keeping it from punching with its right hand. "I have you trapped now, nya," said Nekoko happily. The energy strand held Tsukuyomi no Mikoto far enough away that it could not punch or kick Izuraha no Takazuchi. At the same time, Himeko had discovered a person's hand sticking out from the debris. The Solar Mark on her chest lit up momentarily as her senses told her that it was Mako. Himeko rushed to where the hand was and lifted pieces of wood from the body. Sure enough, it was Makoto. Himeko put her ear to Mako's chest and was revealed to hear her breathing. "Oh, thank goodness," Himeko said, knowing that her roommate was alive. "Chikane," Himeko cried out, turning toward Chikane, "I found Mako. She's--" Himeko stopped talking as she saw the bind that Chikane was in. "Oh no. Chikane!" "Don't worry about me, Himeko," said Chikane. "Tsukuyomi no Mikoto has a few tricks that this Orochi doesn't know." Chikane extended the metal arcs from Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's arm and started spinning them around their axis, causing Izuhara no Tamazuchi's energy strand to become tangled in the turbine. "What?" Nekoko cried, realizing that she was unable to retract her mech's energy strand. As the arcs continued spinning, Chikane was drawing Izuhara no Tamazuchi closer to Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. As soon as she was in striking distance, she kicked Izuhara no Tamazuchi as hard as she could with Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's left foot. Although Nekoko's other self was almost 5 times Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's height and 20 times its weight, Chikane kicked with a force powerful enough to bring Izuhara no Takazuchi straight over Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's head and send it several hundred meters away from the dormitory. With Nekoko dazed from the blow that her mech had taken, Chikane kneeled down in front of Himeko and extended Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's left hand toward her, its palm open. "Come on, Himeko. Put Mako in my hand. I'll keep her safe." Himeko managed to lift Mako's limp body onto the giant, metallic hand. Tsukuyomi no Mikoto stood up and turned back to Izuhara no Tamazuchi, which had gotten back up. "I don't care if your other self did throw me far, far away," said Nekoko. "Your Tsukuyomi no Mikoto doesn't scare me, nya!" "You don't know this god's power," Chikane responded. The two arcs on the purple mech's right arm came together and formed the blade that extended from just behind the right hand. Nekoko fired white blasts of energy at Chikane and Chikane countered most of the shots with blue blasts of energy from the tip of Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's blade. She closed her other self's left hand into a fist, acting as a shield to protect Mako from any of Nekoko's shots that her blade could not counter. As the two mechs fought, Chikane managed to advance slowly toward Nekoko. When the small Orochi member realized that her blasts couldn't hurt Tsukuyomi no Mikoto very badly, she lashed out with the energy strands again. However, Chikane simply sliced through the strands with her blade, leaving Nekoko without any weapons. "Nyaaa!" cried Nekoko. "Retreat! Retreat!" Izuhara no Tamazuchi started moving away when Chikane said, "Oh, no you don't!" Chikane rushed at Nekoko one more time and drove the blade into the gigantic mech's body. The blade started glowing blue, and the blue glow engulfed Izuhara no Tamazuchi as well, destroying the sphere-shaped Orochi body. Chikane opened Tsukuyomi no Mikoto's hand to check up on Mako. She was still unconscious, but had not received any further injury. Chikane turned to Himeko and said, "We'd better get her to the medical center." "Right," Himeko said. Himeko jumped back into Tsukuomi no Mikoto's portal, and the mech made its way toward Kamiyatate University Medical Center. At that time, Yokusemi no Mizuchi was flying through the air toward Orochi's realm. Nekoko looked back at Chikane's mech from the cockpit of Orochi's eighth body with distaste. "Nyaaaaa," Nekoko cried, tears squirting from her eyes like waterfalls. "That mean old Lunar Priestess." Then, the tears stopped and Nekoko said to herself. "But at least I got to boom the school with Nyan-Nyan before it broke. And I also got the name of the Lunar Priestess's other self, nya. 'Tsukuyomi no Mikoto'." ---------- After Chikane and Himeko dropped off Makoto at the Kamiyatate University Medical Center, they made their way back to the Himemiya residence. "What in the world is that thing?" Rika wondered as she saw the giant, robot-looking creature approaching the mansion. The creature stopped in front of them and then kneeled. As it did, Chikane and Himeko exited from the portal in its chest. As the two girls exited the creature's body, its metallic form turned to stone. Chikane and Himeko touched down on the ground and looked at Takeshi and Rika. "Mister and Missus Himemiya," said Chikane. "Chikane, what...?" Takeshi tried to ask. "It's difficult to explain," said the dark-haired girl. "Well..." Rika said, thinking of what to say at that time. She then decided to respond, "...why don't we discuss it over dinner?" "That sounds like a good idea," Himeko said. "I'm starving." "So am I," Chikane said. The two girls followed Takeshi and Rika into the mansion and sat down at the table. As the four of them sat down, the maids brought in the meals. "Good evening, ladies, Sir, Missus. For dinner tonight, we have a delicious Chinese dinner set with mushrooms in garlic sauce." The maids placed dishes in front of the four, each dish with a plate of mushrooms in garlic sauce, a bowl of white rice, and a pair of chopsticks. Himeko and Chikane looked at the dishes before them in surprise. It reminded them so much of the first morning that they had spent together after Himeko had started staying at the Himemiya estate in the other reality. Otoha had brought them a Japanese-style breakfast with salmon and shiitake mushrooms. This time, it was another dish with mushrooms. "Is something wrong, Miss Kurusugawa?" asked Takeshi, noticing the odd expression on Himeko's face. "Oh, no, Mister Himemiya," said Himeko. "It looks delicious." Although she did not like mushrooms, Himeko wanted to be polite, especially toward someone with the status of Takeshi Himemiya, and she could not refuse the meal that had been prepared. Chikane looked on in concern as Himeko picked up her chopsticks and put a piece of mushroom in her mouth. Although Himeko tried to hide it, Chikane could tell that her beloved was in discomfort. 'Himeko...' she thought to herself. 'Why did it have to be mushrooms tonight?' She then looked in Otoha's direction. 'Otoha. Did she remember?' Takeshi asked Himeko and Chikane, "Tell me, what is that thing sitting outside our house right now?" "I don't think you would believe us if we told you," Himeko said. "After all that we've seen today," Rika said, "we'd believe almost anything." "Okay," Himeko said. She turned to Chikane, knowing that her dark-haired companion knew more about Tsukuyomi no Mikoto than she did. Chikane answered to Takeshi and Rika, "It's a god." The two adults looked and Chikane blankly. "Tsukuyomi no Mikoto, the God of the Moon," continued Chikane. "It is also my other self, a body that I can move as if it were my own, a body that I use to protect those that are important to me." "It's like a second body," Himeko said. "Her spirit can inhabit both her own body and that mech's body at the same time." "I know it's hard to understand," said Chikane. "I can only hope that what we are saying makes some sense." "I do admit it is hard to believe," said Takeshi. "But I don't think there's any explanation for that thing outside that would be EASY to believe." "Please, continue," said Rika. Himeko said, "We are here on behalf of Ame no Murakumo, the God of Swordsmen. Chikane and I are reincarnations of priestesses that served the God long ago. I am the Priestess of the Sun..." "...and I am the Priestess of the Moon," Chikane finished. "We are meant to bring Ame no Murakumo out of her sacred slumber so that we can help her to defeat the evil god, Orochi." "The destruction downtown that you heard about was caused by one of Orochi's servants attacking the village, using a mech similar to mine." "It's the same thing with Ototachibana Academy this evening, another servant of Orochi, wanting nothing else than to cause destruction." "Let me make sure I understand this correctly," said Rika, stopping the girls' story. "You two are the Priestesses of the Moon and the Sun, and you are supposed to use your powers to awaken this God of Swordsmen, Ame no Murakumo so that she can destroy the evil god, Orochi?" "Unfortunately," Chikane said, "Orochi cannot be destroyed. All that Ame no Murakumo can do is seal Orochi away for several hundred years inside the Lunar Shrine." "Lunar Shrine?" Rika asked. "Yes," answered Chikane, "an ancient shrine that exists on the surface of the moon. That is where Ame no Murakumo seals Orochi." "And Orochi has followers?" asked Takeshi for confirmation. "Eight followers to be exact," said Chikane. Then, wish a sad face, Himeko added, "The seventh follower is my childhood friend, Souma Ogami." "Ogami?" Takeshi said. "As in the Ogami Shrine?" "Souma's adoptive brother, Kazuki Ogami, runs the Ogami Shrine," Chikane explained. "He is the one that guides the priestesses in reviving Ame no Murakumo." "We are planning to go back to the Ogami Shrine tomorrow to perform the revival ritual," said Himeko. "Mister Himemiya," Chikane said, "the school was completely destroyed today. Himeko no longer has a place to stay. Would it be all right if she stayed here as well?" Otoha was stunned. 'Miss Murakumo asking for Miss Kurusugawa to stay here?' she thought to herself. "Oh that's okay, Chikane," Himeko said. "I can stay at Mister Ogami's house." "Himeko..." said Chikane, a little surprised. "I don't want to be a bother to anyone." "You won't be a bother as long as you obey the house rules," Takeshi stated. Otoha's gaze bounced between speakers as if she was watching a tennis match. "And she can stay in my room with me just so she doesn't take up any extra space," Chikane said. Just then, a violent series of coughs came from just beside the table. Everyone looked to see Otoha overcome with a fit of coughing. "Excuse me," she coughed before quickly but graciously leaving the room. Himeko looked at Chikane and the taller girl smiled at her. Himeko turned back to Takeshi and said, bowing her head, "Thank you, Mister Himemiya. I promise not to be a bother." ---------- Back in Orochi's realm, the seven Orochi members were gathered around the large, circular platform at the center, continuing the discussion that they had started earlier that day. "What did you find out about that mech that the Lunar Priestess used, Nekoko?" asked Miyako. "Nya-aa," Nekoko meowed in fright. "It was scary. It had a sword in its arm that it used to break Nyan-Nyan." "That's not what we want to know," Korona hissed. "What was its name?" Nekoko replied, "Its name was Tsukuyomi no Mikoto." Several of the Orochi members, specifically Tsubasa, Miyako, Rehko, and Souma gasped at Nekoko's statement. "Did you say 'Tsukuyomi no Mikoto'?" Miyako asked fervently. "Nya," Nekoko chirped, bobbing her head up and down in the affirmative. "What the hell is Tsukuyomi no Mikoto?" asked Girochi. "The God of the Moon," Rehko answered. "Kazuki told me about Tsukuyomi," said Souma. "Its siblings are Amaterasu, God of the Sun, and Susanou, God of the sea. We have to be careful. This is not some lower-level god like one of our other selves." "Susanou was the one that defeated Orochi in the first place," said Tsubasa. "What?" said a surprised Korona. "It's wasn't Ame no Murakumo?" "Susanou found the legendary sword, Kusanagi in Orochi's tail AFTER the battle," Souma explained. "That sword, Kusanagi, is the object now known as Ame no Murakumo." "We have to assume that Tsukuyomi's powers rival those of Susanou's," said Tsubasa. "But what we have to remember is that it was only with Ame no Murakumo that Susanou could seal Orochi away. No matter who it is that seals Orochi away in the Lunar Shrine, they need Ame no Murakumo to do it." "So if Ame no Murakumo isn't revived..." Miyako started. "...then nobody can stop Orochi," Girochi finished. "But with a God as powerful as Tsukuyomi," Korona stated, "there's no way the priestesses would lose to us. They'll keep defeating us and then go right back to reviving Ame no Murakumo again." "Unless we destroy the place where the revival ceremony is supposed to take place," said Souma. That was the statement that got everyone's attention. "The revival ceremony always takes place at the Ogami Shrine," Souma explained. "If the shrine is destroyed..." "...the priestesses can't revive Ame no Murakumo," Tsubasa finished. "All right!" said Korona. "So let's go and get rid of that shrine!" "We will need a distraction to keep the priestesses away from the Shrine," said Rehko. "Let me go," Girochi pleaded. "My Gungal is getting anxious." "All right," Miyako conceded, "you can go." "All right," Girochi said with a big grin on his face. "You'd better not hurt Himeko," said Souma with a suspicious expression. "Oh, don't worry, Seventh Neck," said Girochi. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt my Hime." "Souma," said Tsubasa, "keep an eye on him. I can lead the strike force to the shrine." "Right," Souma agreed. "But don't hurt Kazuki or Yukihito. I've known them for as long as I can remember and even though they're not related to me by blood, they are my family." "I understand your sense of loyalty to your family," said Tsubasa, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Mister Ogami and his assistant will not be harmed." "Thank you, Brother Tsubasa." "I will make sure those two don't get into an argument," said Miyako, ready to go with Souma and Girochi. "Go with them, Rehko," Tsubasa ordered. "The more distractions, the better. It will not take very much to destroy the shrine." "Right," was Rehko's only word as she prepared to join Miyako's party. "The rest of us will go after the shrine," Tsubasa said. "But Nyan-Nyan is still broken," Nekoko whined. "That's right," Tsubasa realized. "Izuhara no Tamazuchi still needs time to recover." "In that case, I should go with you," said Miyako. "If they're objective is only to distract the priestesses, they won't need much power. Destroying the Shrine has to be done quickly before the Priestesses realize what's happening, and Yatsu no Onokoshizuchi has speed. Please, Master Tsubasa. Let me fight beside you." "Very well," Tsubasa conceded. "Miyako, Korona, we'll go after the shrine. Girochi, Rehko, Souma," go after the priestesses. Nekoko, recover your strength." "And when I'm all better, I can help you boom things, nya!" said Nekoko excitedly. "Strike force, are you ready?" Miyako and Korona said in unison, "Ready." "Diversion team, are you ready?" asked Souma. Girochi and Rehko replied in unison, "Ready." "Let's go," said Souma, summoning Take no Yamikazuchi. The other Orochi members summoned their other selves and went on their way. ---------- OMAKE: "Nya, nya, nya," Nekoko hummed to herself. "Boy, it sure is boring here all by myself, nya." It was the first time that the catgirl had been alone in the Orochi realm. It was then that Nekoko noticed something on the number two torii. "Hey. What's that?" Nekoko jumped over to see what it was. It was a magazine of some kind. She opened and gasped in surprise. "Naked pictures of Tsubasa!" she cried. "Yummy yummy!" After Nekoko had perused Miyako's personal magazine for a bit, she said, "I wonder if Tsubasa has naked pictures of Miyako." She looked over at the number one torii and saw that there was a magazine there as well. "That must be it, nya." She jumped over and picked it up. When Nekoko opened Tsubasa's magazine, her eyes literally bugged out of their sockets. "SOUMA?!"
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