Dream Incident (1)

"Hehehe~" Alice pulled me closer, her voice sounding somewhat drunk. "Now that I think about it, aren't you a cutie?" she said, giggling.

Before I could respond, Youmu grabbed my arm, pulling me toward her. "What do you mean~ Shun is mine! I already confessed!" she exclaimed, her words echoing Alice's tone.

My mind was spinning, not just from the alcohol's effect but also from the sudden affectionate attention I was receiving.

"Uhm, let's all calm down and talk about this later when we're not... like this," I suggested, trying to gently extricate myself from their embrace.

But the two of them were not in a state to reason.

"SHUN! Who do you think is better? This woman or me!" Youmu demanded, looking at me with a glare.

"E-Eh...? But..."

"That's right, Shun... Who... is better!~" Alice chimed in, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

I found myself caught in an awkward situation, with both Youmu and Alice vying for my attention. I tried to find the right words to respond to, but my mind was still clouded from the sake I had earlier.

"Well, uh... You're both amazing in your ways," I stammered, hoping to defuse the tension.

"Ha! You're just trying to avoid answering!" Youmu huffed, crossing her arms.

I scratched my head, feeling even more flustered. "No, really, I just don't want to compare you two like that. You're both important to me in different ways."

"You're being indecisive, Shun!" Youmu pouted.

"That's right... Shun... You're being a bad boy right now... and do you know what happens to those bad boys?~" Alice slowly steps back, and Youmu follows suit.

Behind Alice, dolls started appearing, and Youmu unsheathed her Roukanken

"They should be punished~" Alice points her fingers at me, and the dolls start attacking with their small blades.

"Eh?! Wait!" I immediately stepped back trying to reason with them.

"No, no, Shun... You listen to us~" Youmu said, her voice sweet yet menacing as her half-phantom form fired purple bubble-like bullets in two arcing zig-zags.

Everything seemed to slow down, except for them and the dolls.

Meanwhile, Alice took out more dolls (Magic Sign: "Artful Sacrifice") and threw a magically-charged doll toward me.

Thinking quickly, I leaped high into the air, just in time for the doll to explode harmlessly below me. I landed back on the ground, panting.

"These two are in sync... I can't keep up!" I thought to myself, trying to catch my breath.

Alice and Youmu stood before me, still grinning mischievously. "You're quite agile, Shun~"

"Yeah, but not agile enough!" Youmu added, pointing her Roukanken at me.

Youmu swung Roukanken, and a flurry of pink slice projectiles came rushing toward me.

I managed to dodge some, but one caught me off guard, hitting me in the front.

I winced in pain but quickly moved to evade the rest of the projectiles.

However, Youmu wasn't done yet. She took a new stance, her sword gleaming with power. (Human Sign: "Slash of the Present World"). With incredible speed, she dashed forward, her blade slicing through me.

"Argh!" I staggered back, clutching my side in pain.

"Does it hurt?~" Alice asked, her tone filled with mischief.

"It does hurt... really," I admitted wincing as I took out my blood crystal and used its sharp edge to make my finger bleed, forming a blood-crimson blade. "It's my turn now." "But it's my turn now."

As I held the blood crimson blade in my hand, Youmu stepped back beside Alice, and the two of them exchanged glances. A menacing aura began emanating from their bodies.

"Hehe~ Do you think it's just us two?"

Before I could react, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around to find Sakuya and Reisen joining the fray.

"Eh...?"

Sakuya wielded her knives and Reisen's eyes turned crimson.

I tried to avoid looking directly at Reisen's eyes, as they had a mesmerizing effect.

"We won't hold back... Shun"

the four of them said in unison.

I took a deep breath, my grip on the blood crimson blade tightening. "Very well."

I took the crimson pocket watch out of my pocket, its ticking filling the air like the beat of a battle drum. "Fine, Let's dance."

As I squared my shoulders and assumed a battle-ready stance, the world seemed to slow down, each moment stretching into eternity.

Adrenaline surged through my veins, sharpening my senses and heightening my focus.