"That's the Tesseract. Makes sense—judging by the timing, it's about to begin."
While watching TV cuddled up with Miku Izayoi, Tohka suddenly sensed a familiar wave of energy. She recognized this energy—it was the same as what had been released the last two times the Tesseract was triggered.
And from the current feel of it, it wasn't being actively triggered by someone—it was more like someone was using something extremely similar to cause it. That someone was likely Loki, the one holding the Mind Scepter.
"Mm? What is it, Tohka? Why did you suddenly stand up?" Miku Izayoi, who had been leaning against Tohka, also noticed her abnormal reaction.
For some reason, Tohka had suddenly become very serious. The silly and relaxed aura she had earlier had completely disappeared, and a palpable pressure could now be felt from her.
"Looks like war is coming. What about you—want to hide somewhere for a while?" Now that she had sensed the situation, the first thing Tohka thought about was Miku Izayoi's safety.
Although she knew that with Miku's power, the Chitauri army, which lacked high-level combatants, wouldn't pose much of a threat to her. Even so, Tohka couldn't help but worry.
"War, you say? That's impossible, isn't it?" Upon hearing Tohka's words, Miku Izayoi froze, clearly not believing her.
But her opinion quickly changed—Tohka's serious expression made it hard to refute her. At that moment, Tohka reminded her of the first time they met, when she had confidently faced down government agents. She knew that Tohka only made this face when her own safety was involved.
"So, what are you planning to do? If I'm in danger, you could be too." However, instead of answering immediately, Miku Izayoi turned the question around on Tohka.
"Don't worry, I really don't care about those guys." Tohka wasn't bluffing—while that army might be formidable, it still wasn't much in her eyes. The only real problem was their overwhelming numbers, which gave her a headache just thinking about.
"Well then, that's good. If even you are fine, then I'm sure I'll be okay too." Hearing Tohka's words, Miku Izayoi gained confidence. She knew that while she might not be as strong as Tohka, ordinary enemies were no threat to her.
"Hmm…" Thinking about Miku's ability, Tohka decided not to insist she leave. A war like this might be a disaster for normal people, but for them, it really wasn't anything major. "Right—don't tell anyone about what we've talked about today. I mean it. Anyone. Otherwise, it'll get messy."
"Okay, I understand." Even though she didn't know why Tohka was acting this way, she nodded without hesitation, choosing to fully support her.
"All right, let's start packing. Someone might show up at any minute. I might have to leave for a bit." Tohka wasn't exaggerating. Now that Loki had arrived, the Tesseract would soon go missing. Nick Fury would surely start gathering the superhuman team, and she was likely going to be part of that.
"Packing?" Miku Izayoi blinked, confused by Tohka's words. But just then, the doorbell rang.
"See? Those guys sure move fast. Someone's already here." As she spoke, Tohka opened the door. Sure enough, Coulson, dressed in a suit, was standing there.
"Miss Tohka, you're here. Hello to you as well, Miss Miku." Seeing Tohka, Coulson greeted her in his characteristically gentle tone. Even so, he couldn't hide his underlying tension.
"Mm, your Tesseract seems to have caused some trouble?" Tohka replied calmly.
"How did you know? It just happened moments ago!" Coulson was startled by her words. If he hadn't been sure she wasn't involved, he might've drawn his gun on the spot—though he knew it would be useless against her.
"I've triggered that thing twice before, so I'm very sensitive to its energy. Normally, I wouldn't notice a thing—but with how big you blew it up this time, how could I not feel it?" She really wasn't bluffing—if the Tesseract hadn't caused such a ruckus yesterday, she wouldn't have known.
"All right then, come with me. We're heading to Tony's place—we need your help too." Coulson didn't question her explanation. He knew that if Tohka really wanted to cause trouble, she could've just barged in—no need to go through all this.
"Fine. Let's go." Tohka didn't mind. She doubted she'd be able to avoid the coming war anyway. Ideally, she'd be able to stop that guy—though she wasn't sure it was possible, since behind Loki stood Thanos, one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
"Um…" At this point, Coulson glanced at Miku Izayoi, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Ah, I'll just stay here and wait for you." Both Tohka and Miku Izayoi understood why. It wasn't about trust—they weren't worried she was a spy or anything. After all, someone from another world couldn't be involved with any organization here. The real concern was that the next events were top-secret, and her telepathic powers made her a liability. Nick Fury really didn't want to face her again. That night had made it clear—Miku had been weak then, but now she was fully recovered. He didn't want to risk it.
Of course, Miku Izayoi had already heard Tohka explain this, so she understood their concerns and voluntarily backed down to avoid making things difficult for Tohka.
"All right then. We're heading out. And be careful—if anyone tries to hurt you, don't hold back." Tohka wasn't just saying that. S.H.I.E.L.D. had already been riddled with Hydra infiltration, and those guys seemed to be very interested in Miku Izayoi.
That was why Tohka had stayed by her side these past few days. She couldn't be sure Hydra wouldn't make a move during the chaos, so she had to stay cautious.
"Okay. Got it." Miku Izayoi nodded, even though she didn't fully understand why.