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"S-Sensei…"
Toyohime Watatsuki stepped out from her hiding spot, knowing she'd been found out. But instead of putting up a front or making excuses like, 'If you hadn't said anything, he might not have noticed me,' she simply jogged over and hugged Eirin's arm.
"It's been a while."
"It has," Eirin replied with a small nod, then asked, "You brought Yorihime here too, didn't you? She wouldn't have shown up just because someone detected invaders—not unless they'd already reached the Great Lunar Barrier."
Toyohime possessed the ability to go anywhere she pleased. Called "Linking the Sea and the Mountains," it allowed her to connect two locations—one as the 'sea,' the other as the 'mountain'—and travel between them instantly. Of course, a huge space move was also easy for her to notice.
"Couldn't she have figured it out on her own?" Toyohime blinked innocently.
"Will you lie to your sensei?"
"Fine, fine," Toyohime held up her hand in defeat, making a tiny gap between her thumb and forefinger. "I might've given her just a little nudge."
Eirin's steady, knowing gaze said all it needed to. Toyohime backed off with a sheepish smile, then turned her curiosity toward the man beside her.
"Who's this?"
"He's Kaguya's father—the one who took her in after she was exiled to Earth."
As she spoke, Eirin channeled her spiritual power to write his name in the air with glowing characters.
"Her father?" Toyohime raised a brow and looked the man over seriously.
It wasn't that strange for someone from Earth to have taken in Kaguya after she'd been cast out. What was strange was that she'd managed to return to the moon so boldly, backed by allies she'd gathered on Earth… and that this man was here, standing beside Eirin Yagokoro, casually watching a battle between Kaguya and the Lunar Defense Corps.
So this guy had been just as 'lucky' down on Earth as he would've been if he'd lived in the Lunar Capital?
Eirin didn't comment on Toyohime's silence. After introducing the man, she turned toward him and gestured to Toyohime.
"This is Toyohime Watatsuki—just like the princess from back then, she's one of the Lunar Princesses. Also, my student."
"The older sister of that one over there?" Veyron asked, nodding toward the battlefield, where a purple-haired girl was being hammered by Kaguya's five-colored radiance.
"Yep. That's Yorihime, Toyohime's little sister—also a Lunar Princess, and also my student~."
Eirin smiled as she confirmed it.
"Perfect. Since their fight isn't over yet, mind satisfying my curiosity a bit?"
While they chatted, Suika Ibuki, Yuugi Hoshiguma, and Yuuka Kazami had already reached the Great Barrier protecting the Lunar Capital.
Just as Kaguya had told the two oni earlier, the moment their attacks were about to land on the barrier, several powerful Lunarians flew out to intercept them. The defenders were clearly no pushovers, managing to stop the invaders in their tracks.
It was obvious Suika and Yuugi were struggling a bit against their respective opponents. Not surprising—they hadn't activated their Stage Four Gene Locks like Yuuka had.
Yuuka had even undergone a round of enhancements before this mission, and now she was casually outclassing several enemies at once like it was a game.
With a casual flick of his glowing finger, Veyron cast buffs onto Suika and Yuugi from afar, giving them a noticeable boost. Then he turned to Eirin again and asked, "Kaguya's situation is clear enough. But those two… I can't help but feel like, despite being Lunar Princesses, their standing in the Lunar Capital isn't exactly… solid."
What he was thinking of, of course, was Touhou ~Silent Sinner in Blue, where just because someone had summoned a god—and Yorihime happened to have the ability to do so—she became a target of suspicion in the Lunar Capital. She had to drag the actual summoner, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, back to prove her innocence.
But Eirin misunderstood his question.
She thought he was wondering why the Watatsuki sisters, as Lunar Princesses, were out there on the front lines fighting off invaders themselves.
"Well," Eirin said, "the so-called 'Lunar Princesses' are really just tools—tools created to resist being assimilated by the concept of the 'Moon' itself."
Eirin looked out toward the distant city, her gaze cutting through barriers and distance as if she could see right to its heart… to the ancient palace at its center… and to the godlike being inside that felt at once familiar and utterly foreign.
"…Wait, you can actually see that far?" Veyron intrigued, raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected her to literally see into the palace like that. Like him.
"That's normal for me," Eirin said, then let out a sigh. "... I suppose I should start from the beginning—from the age of gods."
The Age of Gods.
Just like how Yukari Yakumo, in a time still dominated by monsters and yokai, foresaw that the world would eventually be ruled by human common sense rather than mystical unreason—and began preparing for it—Tsukuyomi had seen the writing on the wall too.
Tsukuyomi knew the age of the gods would one day end. So, Tsukuyomi took its kin and ascended to the moon—a celestial body that symbolized god's divine authority—and, with Eirin's help, created a new kingdom: the Lunar Capital. A place untouched by the filth of "life and death." A place meant to outlast even the mythical Takamagahara.
And Tsukuyomi succeeded.
While countless divine pantheons, even those once stronger than Takamagahara, faded into myths—and those myths were eventually forgotten by mankind—Tsukuyomi alone retained its status as a chief deity. In fact, on the moon, Tsukuyomi's power surpassed what any god had wielded in Takamagahara.
But… Tsukuyomi also failed.
By anchoring to the "moon"—a concept reflected in countless myths and cultures—Tsukuyomi had unknowingly invited that very concept to turn on it. After the Age of Gods came to an end, the idea of the "moon" itself began to incorporate Tsukuyomi. That tried to erase the individuality and overwrite everything with the will of the Moon.
Tsukuyomi, who had outlived the divine age, refused to let itself be devoured so easily.
And so, Tsukuyomi created the "Lunar Princesses" as the solution—a desperate attempt at self-preservation.
Among them, Kaguya Houraisan was the so-called "perfect creation." Once Kaguya matured enough to bear the full weight of Tsukuyomi's divine essence, she would become Tsukuyomi's new vessel—a body Tsukuyomi could wear like clothing.
And the god's true self would remain behind in the Lunar Capital to continue anchoring the moon's conceptual power, but through this new body, Tsukuyomi could once again walk the worlds. With its awareness inhabiting Kaguya, Tsukuyomi could bridge its divine will with its original form—and harness the full might of the moon's power.
That's why…
From the body modeled after Tsukuyomi's own divine form, to Kaguya's "Eternity and the Instant"—an ability from the realm of time, which even disregards the laws of space—every part of her was crafted with extreme precision. Tsukuyomi had done everything in its power to create the perfect vessel.
The Watatsuki sisters, Toyohime and Yorihime, were the backups.
They were Kaguya's contingency plan.
In case something went wrong with Kaguya—like, say, her taking the Hourai Elixir—there was a breeding program in place.
The most genetically exceptional Lunar male would later mate with Yorihime, and from that generation, Tsukuyomi believed a new vessel worthy of carrying its divine essence could be born.
"...So, wait." Having heard the full picture, Veyron stared at Eirin with a weird expression. "Kaguya drinking the Hourai Elixir basically ruined Tsukuyomi's entire plan, right? How the hell did Tsukuyomi not throw you out along with her?"
Eirin just shrugged. "Beats me."
Then she looked ahead, where the air shimmered from distant spiritual energy. "…But hey, why don't you ask Tsukuyomi yourself?"
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