Dating Preparations Case 1: Yoshino

Yoshino stood in front of the large mirror in her room uneasily. Her one-piece dress had no
wrinkles. Her hair did not have any strands that were out of place. After examining every part of
her body carefully, she put the large brimmed sun hat on her head and turned around once in
front of the mirror.

She was wearing clothes that she liked very much as well as the hat that she cherished. Every
inch of her body was clean, and there was no problem at all. But for some reason she became
extremely jumpy, repeatedly inspecting her garments.

“I say, Yoshino. You’re still not done yet? It’s almost time already...”

Just as Yoshino was about to repeat the same thing again, Yoshinon the rabbit puppet in her left
hand opened its mouth and voiced out in displeasure.

“Ah... I’m sorry, Yoshinon but... I don’t look... weird, do I...?”

“There’s no problem. After all, it’s just going next door to eat.. But Yoshino, you’d always do
this every time we’re about to go to Shidou-kun’s house.”

“...! T-that’s not true...”

“Is that so?”

“U-uuh...”

Yoshino groaned and pulled down on her hat, trying to hide her face away. Yoshinon could only
shrug.

“If you like him that much, then Yoshino you should just take the lead and ask him out. Won’t
that just solve everything?”

“! Th-that sort of thing— I can’t do it...”

“Eh, but you really want to go on a date with Shidou-kun right?”

“Th-that’s true... I really want to go on a date with him...but...”

Just as Yoshino said that line, the corner of Yoshinon’s mouth rose. It then rummaged around its
stomach before finally extracting a small device.

“...! Th-that is...”

“Hehe, this is a recording device! I asked Reine-san to teach me how to use it. I’ve recorded
what you’ve said just now.”

“...!”

Yoshino held her breath, making attempts to snatch the recorder. However, Yoshinon nimbly
moved its body, evading Yoshino’s hand.

“Yo—Yoshinon!”

“Leave everything to me! I, Yoshinon, will make use of this to ask Shidou-kun on a date for
you!”

“Y-you can’t!”

Yoshino said in panic as she finally managed to snatch the recorder from Yoshinon. This victory
however, was at the cost of her hair becoming a mess and her clothes becoming wrinkled all
over. But despite all of that, even though he was shocked upon seeing Yoshino in that state,
Shidou simply said

“You look cute.”

Dating Preparations Case 2: Kotori Itsuka

“...Hm—”
Kotori was inside the office of <Ratatoskr>, staring at the black and white ribbons placed on the
desk while making a troubled sound. Needless to say, because the two different types of ribbons
were placed on the desk, the current Kotori did not tie her hair up. her long hair covered her back
past her shoulders, creating a different air to her compared to her usual self. Just as Kotori
hugged her head while in a loss, the door to the office suddenly opened.

“...Kotori, regarding this case... hm?”

Reine spoke as she walked into the room.

“!”

Kotori held her breath, grabbing the black ribbons on the table, tied up her hair with amazing
speed.

“Rei-Reine... You ought to knock before entering.”

“...Hm? Aahh, sorry. I forgot.... Then again, what were you doing?”

“Ugh...”

Kotori began to stutter, but it was useless to keep it a secret from Reine. She shrugged her
shoulders and sighed.

“...Tomorrow, I’m going shopping with Shidou, but I don’t know which ribbon to wear.”

Kotori had imposed two different personalities upon herself. She was the innocent little sister
when the white ribbons were worn and she would be the strong commander when black ribbons
were worn. However, it’s precisely because of this... after Shidou had witnessed Kotori with her
two distinct personalities, she felt lost whenever she went out with him.

If she wore her white ribbons she could be believed to be acting coy... but she may be seen to be
too harsh on him if she were to wear her black ribbons. After Kotori finished saying her piece,
Reine felt troubled as she scratched her cheek.

“...Actually it doesn’t matter doesn’t it? If you can’t make a decision no matter what, then just
close your eyes and choose one.”

“What you say is true... but...”

“...Is your older brother the sort of man that would hate his little sister for the color of her
ribbons?”

“...!”

After hearing Reine’s words, Kotori’s eyes widened... quickly shrugging her shoulders.

“You’re right, I was thinking too much.”

Saying that, Kotori untied the black ribbons that were on her head and placed them beside the
white ribbons, mixing them up after closing her eyes.

“Now, which one should I... choose!” After grabbing the ribbons, she opened her eyes.

“...Ah.”

In her hands... were two ribbons, one black, the other white.

“...In this situation, what will come out of it then?”

Dating Preparations Case 3: Origami Tobiichi
After the practice battle in the base. Once the feeling of fatigue eased from using the personal
territory, Origami slowly stood up. In order to remove her battle suit, she made her way towards
her locker at a snail’s pace. If she had used her emergency clothes changing unit, changing would
only be a split second, however that unit would only be used during emergencies, that’s because
using it results in a massive burden on the brain. Origami would not use it if she could help it.

Just as Origami reached her own locker, she noticed that quite a number of her teammates had
reached there before her. They were all teammates that had participated in the practice battle just
now. Origami lightly raised her hand in greeting, after which she opened her own locker, taking
out her clothes and bag. Soon after, her teammates on both sides glanced at her clothes.

“Eh? Master Sergeant Tobiichi, it seems like your clothes have been specially picked today.”

“Ah, it’s true. Your bag is cute too. “

Origami nodded her head casually.

“Today I have a date after this.”

As soon as Origami ended her words, the young team members cried out.

“Waah, really? Eh—hold on, I thought only Master Sergeant, you would never be conquered by
a guy—”

“Squad Leader! I suggest that we conduct a check on Master Sergeant Tobiichi’s personal
belongings!”

“Hm, approved!”

With permission granted the AST members all crowded around. Although Origami had no
intention of hiding her relationship with Shidou. Origami did not make any attempts of resistance
at all, she handed her bag over. However after a few seconds. The team members who originally
had eyes sparkling with expectations soon had troubled expressions.

“U-um... Master Sergeant Tobiichi. This small bottle is...”

“It’s used to mix inside his food. One drop will increase his energy by a hundred fold.”

“Then this liquid that gives off such a pungent odor is...”

“In cases of emergency, I’ll soak a cloth with that and cover his nose and mouth with it.”
“Th-this pair of handcuffs and masking tape is...”

“In case I need to use it”

“...Then, I’ll reconfirm it once more, you are going on a—”

“Date.”

“...”

The AST members all fell into silence. Origami had no idea about the meanings behind their
words, she continued to change while tilting her head in wonder.
Tohka Game Center

“Origami Tobiichi, You stupid dummy—!”

—Bang!

While roaring, a fist connected with its target at a speed that was too quick for anyone to quickly
cover their eyes and ears.

In the next moment, the fist connected with the stand: piercing the LCD screen in front and
tearing a hole through the machine.

Slowly, the broken wires let a few weak sparks and the now destroyed screen exploded, leaving a
trail of smoke in its wake.

“A-Ah…!”

The sudden explosion made Itsuka Shidou who had seen what happened in front of him stare
with his eyes so wide in shock that they might just fall out of their sockets.

Currently in a game center in Tenguu City.

The game console with boxing gloves and targets—which was to say, the boxing machine.

“Haah, I feel much better now.”

Tohka Yatogami let out a sigh as she spoke, she then pulled off the gloves that had pierced past
the machine and tossed them onto what was left of the machine.

She had a slender body, hair as dark as the night sky, and crystalline colored eyes.

If life was kind, then such beauty may be possible in this world.

In front of the girl was a damaged boxing machine that continued to play the trumpet sound
despite being heavily damaged. This was surely a surreal situation.

The other guests around were similarly dumbfounded.

“Y-Yeah… th-that’s really good to hear…”

As Shidou responded while sweat trickled down his face, he could hear the sound of footsteps
from behind him.

“Hello...guest! Hey, what do you think you’re doing! What a pain!”

The man who seemed to be a staff member at the game center rushed over in a flurry of panic.

“Huh?”

“Ah… It’s no good!”

But—

“...Huh?”

The staff member stopped just short of reaching Shidou and Tohka.

The reason was obvious. Because there was a dark skinned man dressed in black who appeared
to be more than 2 meters tall and appeared before as though he intended to prevent him from
moving forward.

“You… what are you…”

“Don’t be rude. Let’s talk over there…”

“Huh? Hey, wait a minute...huh? N-No, stop it! A-A-Ah!”

Shidou could only watch as the staff member let out a wail of protest as he was dragged away by
the much taller man.

“What happened just now?”

“...No… I don’t know.”

Although Shidou responded to Tohka in the way he had… but he actually had a suspicion who
the man actually was.

Sure enough… From the earpiece clipped in his right ear, he could hear a young girl’s voice in
his ear.

[“—We’ll clear out any obstacles in your path. You can relax while you continue the date. Let
Tohka get a chance to relax a little bit.”]

“...Got it.”

Shidou answered quietly in order to prevent Tohka from overhearing him.

This was surely a lovely date for an after school setting.

It all started earlier in the day.

“Tonomachi, what’s that thing on your phone?”

Classes had ended for the day. While all of their classmates had started to make their way home
in twos and threes, Shidou was busy organizing the contents of his school bag as he spoke to his
classmate: Hiroto Tonomachi.

“Hmm? Are you talking about this?”

Tonomachi waved the cell phone in his hand while running his fingers through his hair, styled
with liberal use of gel.

The animal charm attached to the corner of the phone shook.

“It’s cute. It’s a colorful animal charm.”

“Right… Be careful not to commit the crime of displaying obscene objects.”

“Don’t you think this is the best character design? How would this be considered obscene?!”

“Oh… sorry, I just spoke unconsciously…”

Shidou apologized while smiling bitterly. “It can’t be helped.” Tonomachi shrugged and
answered:

“I have more of them. Do you want one? It seems like this series is very popular right now. If
you hang it on your phone, girls will surely come in droves!” Tonomachi finished as he pulled
out a paper bag from his uniform pocket. Inside were charms sealed in a simple plastic
packaging.

“Ah? So you have two of them?”

“No, I won this from the game center. The last time I was there, I managed to get two in one try.”

“Wow, this is amazing.”

Shidou stared at the thing that Tonomachi brought.

...The eyes looked a little too real for his taste and he didn’t think that they were very cute.

“...But never mind. I’m not into that.”

“You’re not? I think it’s cute.”

“Ah, well, I think this one’s cute.”

Shidou pointed to the panda bear mascot printed on the back of the packaging.
“Ah, you’re a fan of the dream panda [Panda Ronnie]. He is a good friend and seems very good
at playing with a ball.”

“I don’t know about all of that. But if I had to pick one, I think i would pick this one.”

“It’s a pity that I don’t have that one. I’ve tried to get it a few times but with the way that he’s
positioned makes it difficult to win and the clerks aren’t at all helpful.”

“Right.”

Shidou responded in that way at that time.

“—What did you say!?”

Suddenly there was such a loud roar in the rear and Shidou’s shoulders trembled.

“W-What happened…?”

He looked behind him, shoulders trembling and spotted two female students arguing with each
other.

“No… that can’t be true…! You bastard, if you keep spouting nonsense, I won’t spare you next
time!”

“I’m just telling the truth.”

“Shut up! Who would believe such things!”

“It’s you who is being loud. Be quiet.”

“What are you talking about!”

“Are you done?”

It seemed that the two sides had no intention of giving in to each other.

On one side was Tohka, and the other side was a girl with an expression like that of a doll and
replying calmly: Origami Tobiichi.

She boasted excellent grades and was incredible at sports. She was the perfect superhuman to be
the pride of Shidou’s class.

“All of a sudden… what happened…”

Shidou turned around and noticed that Tonomachi’s figure seemed to have vanished.
“T-That guy…”

It seemed that he’d encountered something troublesome.

Shidou sighed loudly.

Although he didn’t know the reason for their quarrel, they can’t seem to let it go. Shidou spoke
fearfully:

“H-Hello…”

“Hello!”

“How are you?”

Shidou spoke to them and almost immediately Tohka and Origami turned their gazes on him at
the same time.

Although he flinched for a moment: Shidou mustered enough courage to continue the
conversation:

“C-Calm down, what happened between you two?”

As Shidou asked, Tohka and Origami clashed with each other again.

...He’d always noticed that they seemed to act like this and their conflict seemed to make the air
vibrate slightly.

“—I just said something that is often taken for granted. It is Tohka Yatogami who lacked
understanding.”

“What are you talking about! After all, It’s your fault—”

“J-Just calm down, okay?”

“...Hmph!”

As Shidou stepped between the two of them, Tohka simply turned away and with a scoff, sat
down in her seat.

“...”

Origami, on the other hand, Origami simply walked out of the classroom without another word.

“Ah… what’s this?”

—At that moment, Shidou’s eyebrows shot up.

“...Huh?”

The name displayed on the phone’s screen was “Kotori Itsuka”: Shidou’s younger sister.

Once Shidou made his way to an isolated corner of the classroom, he pressed the call button.

“—Hey? What’s wrong, Kotori?”

[“How dare you ask such a question as “What’s wrong”, you jerk!”]

“...”

Almost immediately after hitting the call button, Shidou received a vicious scolding from her.

Shidou’s face twitched slightly.

...Since when had Kotori switched into her <Commander Mode>?

[“—Just now, Tohka’s mental state started to rapidly fall!”]

“What....?”

Shidou frowned and replied in such a way. Kotori, in turn, sighed and continued:

[“Didn’t I already warn you to be careful? Although most of her Spirit Power has been sealed,
but because she is Spirit and is an existence powerful enough to cause natural disasters, if her
mental state becomes unstable, the sealed power may reverse and flow back into her.”]

“...!”

After listening to what Kotori said, Shidou gulped nervously.

That’s right. Just like Kotori said: Tohka was not an ordinary human girl.

She was an existence called a Spirit and the reason behind why she appeared and her existence
remained unclear.

For now, her powers had been sealed away and she was currently under the protection of
Kotori’s organization <Ratatoskr> but for Shidou who’d once witnessed her overwhelming
power, this was surely a terrible situation.

[“So, I want to know why her mental state suddenly became so unstable—Shidou, what
perverted things did you do to her?”]

“Why are you assuming that it had something to do with what I did?”

[“So what do you think happened?”]

“Oh… well, she had a big fight with Origami.”

“When you say Origami, do you mean Tobiichi Origami of the AST?”

“Yes.”
The AST also known as the Anti-Spirit Team.

Unlike Kotori and <Ratatoskr>, they are the special forces to deal with the Spirits by eliminating
them by force.

Origami Tobiichi was not just a high school student but also one of the few talented members of
the AST.

Now that Tohka’s powers were sealed, she wouldn’t attack her openly again—but even so, it
seemed that the relationship between them was still poor.

“Hmm, true love troubles—never mind. I guess it can’t be helped if things have already reached
this point. Shidou, focus on stabilizing Tohka’s mental state.”]

“Her mental state… ah…”

Shidou spoke as he looked at Tohka.

...There was an aura of darkness surrounding her. If a sapling was placed next to her, it would
likely wither away instantly.

“Even if you ask me to do that…”

[“The hell are you talking about? Isn’t it obvious? Take her out on a date. Now that I think
about… why don’t you take her to the game center to help relieve her stress—Don’t worry, we
will support you.”]

“What!”

[“Then, I’ll get everything set up beforehand. You need to hurry up!”]

Kotori arbitrarily made the decision before Shidou could get a word in as she hung up the phone.

“...”

Although there were many things he still wanted to say, there’s no point talking about it now.

Shidou put his phone away and took a deep breath before making his way to where Tohka was.

“H-Hey, Tohka.”

“...Muu?”

Tohka replied unhappily.

Although he felt nervous for a moment, Shidou strengthened his resolve as he stayed in place
and continued to speak:

“...No, that… If you don’t mind, do you want to go out together with me?”

“Muu?”

The moment that Shidou finished speaking, he could feel that the frustration that Tohka had built
up seemed to fade away little by little.

“Go out… that is to say, Shidou, do you want to take me on date?”

Tohka seemed to be anxiously waiting for Shidou’s response. His gaze drifted upwards when she
asked.

...Well, she was right. But then again… it was a little embarrassing when put like that. Shidou
scratched his cheek awkwardly in agreement.

“Ah… That’s right.”

After Shidou finished speaking, Tohka stood up from her seat, her expression much brighter than
it had been previously.

“Oh…! Let’s go!”

“O-Oh! Yeah, let’s go.”

“So, where are we going?”

“Hmm… why don’t we go to the game center?”

“Game center?”

Tohka looked confused as she tilted her head.

“Uh...In short, it has many interesting things like ‘games’.”

“Oh, is it fun?”

“Yeah, there are games like boxing machines and whack a mole. It will be fun and relaxing to
play.”

“Not only fun but it’s also relaxing! What other games do they have there?”
“Now that I think about it, it would be pretty difficult to play fighting games if you haven’t
played them before… Oh, there are also dancing games, if we play in beginner mode, you should
be able to play it.”

“Music games?”

“Yeah. It’s like dancing where you use your feet to step on the arrow-painted control panel, or
tapping a drum-shaped controller with a stick. If you like those, it can be relaxing.”

“Are there others!?”

“There are other games that use machines to grab snacks too.”

‘Wow…! I can still get snacks from there…! Isn’t that super incredible!”

“Yeah, really incredible.”

“I could live there!”

Faced with Tohka’s shining expression, Shidou smiled bitterly.

“That might be a challenge… after all, people under the age of 18 can’t go out after 10:00 in the
evening.”

“Muu, is that true?”

“Yeah, according to the customs laws and the like. Ah, you have to remember this other thing:
because the family register that Kotori prepared for you has your age set at 16 years old, you
can’t go just to the Game Center but outside in the middle of the night.”

“Umu, I will remember.”

Tohka finished as she crossed her arms thoughtfully. It seemed that he may have given her too
much information in one sitting.

Perhaps it was because of Tohka’s enthusiasm that a group of girls still in the classroom
approached the two of them.

“Hey Hey What are you two talking about?”

“Huh? Oh, uh…”

After being confronted like this, Shidou scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Just as he was about to speak, Tohka spoke up first:

“I’ll tell you, just wait a minute, Shidou is going to take me to a fun place!”

The girls who’d heard this sentence glanced at Shidou with smiles on their faces.

“Hmm… could it be that you’re expressing your love for her?”

“Ahh! It’s so cute, so cute!”

“Itsuka-kun really is dedicated...”

“No… that…”

...What could he say, they’d struck a nerve. Shidou’s cheeks flushed a deep red as he turned his
gaze away from them.

“Hey, hey, Tohka, you said a fun place, where exactly are you going?”

One of the girls asked Tohka.

“Muu?” Tohka uttered as she thought for a moment. Her eyes widened as she began to speak one
she remembered.

“Muu… where were we going again? I remember it was supposed to be fun… Ah, yes! We’re
going to a place where we can’t get in unless we’re 18!”

“What…?”

Hearing what Tohka said, the girls froze.

“...! Tohka, that’s not true! That only applies after 10:00 pm in the evening—!”

“Muu? Is that true?”

Even though Shidou was quick to correct her, the girls didn’t seem to hear them.

They exchanged looks with each other and started muttering amongst themselves.

“Talking about places prohibited from entering while under the age of 18…”

“Sure enough, it has to be a love hotel, right…?”

“No, maybe it’s the kind of place that’s mainly open at night…”

“Y-You’re misunderstanding it!”

Shidou was quick to protest the injustice as loudly as he could.

Tohka noticed Shidou’s response and thought that she said something odd so she seemed to
clarify Shidou’s explanation.

“Although I don’t know what everyone is thinking… but you’re wrong. Shidou just wants to
make me feel relaxed.”

“What…!”

“By the way, he said it would be relaxing if I stepped on it with my foot and beat it with a stick!”

“...”

The female students grabbed Tohka’s hand, putting her behind them as though to protect her
from Shidou.

“W-What? What’s wrong?”

After Tohka stared at the girls in confusion for a moment, the girls frowned, glanced away and
shook their heads.

“It’s okay, Tohka. We already understand everything.”

“Fortunately, we found out about this in advance… Otherwise, the innocent and ignorant Tohka
would have become a victim of pervasion.”

“...That’s so gross! You have no shame!”

Of course these final words were intended for Shidou.

“No, that’s not what I meant! I was just saying—!”

As soon as Shidou opened his mouth to protest anew, the girls spread out their arms to protect
Tohka.

...And almost immediately was regarded as an enemy of women.

“You are wrong! Shidou is not a bad guy!”

Tohka spoke in a panic.

“Tohka is such a good girl… Because of this, Itsuka-kun who was aware of this tried to take
advantage of the situation…”

However, it seemed the girls were too far gone to listen to her.
Nonetheless, Tohka tried her best to erase their suspicions about Shidou but she ultimately
groaned and slammed her hand on the desk.

“...! By the way, Shidou said that if I went there with him, he would give me snacks! Does that
make sense? Is everything fine now?”

“...”

The girls remained silent for a moment while glaring hard at Shidou.

“...No, that…”

Even if they weren’t saying it aloud, it was obvious they had a mental image of Shidou saying,
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Miss, if you come with me, I’ll give you a delicious snack!”

Just then, Shidou’s cell phone rang again—it was Kotori.

“...Ah, let me answer the phone.”

Shidou informed the girls as he answered the call.

“...Yes?”

[“What are you doing? Slowpoke. Hurry up and get the date started.”]

“Ah… we encountered an unexpected obstacle…”

[“I don’t want to hear you make excuses. I’ll only give you three minutes to get off the school
grounds.]

“Hey, wait a minute—”

He heard the click and beep indicating that she’d hung up without so much as giving him a
chance to explain.

“...”

He’d better hurry. After all, this was the <Commander Mode> Kotori that he was dealing with
here. If he and Tohka didn’t get out in the next three minutes, there was surely going to be a
severe punishment waiting for him.

“...Tohka! Let’s go!”

Shidou put away her cell phone and called out to her.

“Umu!”
Tohka, who originally looked troubled as she watched the situation unfold, looked more cheerful
as she forced her way through the girls back to Shidou’s side, pausing at her desk only to grab
her school bag.

Once Shidou was sure that Tohka was at his side, he immediately fled the classroom with Tohka
in tow.

“Ah…! Tohka!”

“Hey you cheater! Get back here!”

“Tohka! Please come back! Tohka is about to be defiled—!”

It sounded like they were about to say something dangerous as their voices became more faint
and Shidou did his best to ignore them and ran as fast as he could.

Which brought them to now:

Shidou and Tohka had attracted attention from the other guests in the Game Center as they
walked around at a leisurely pace.

The reason for this increased attention was obvious:

That’s right because Tohka has managed to completely destroy the boxing machines, the
whack-a-mole, and the other games that required physical fitness.

Of course, in this case, the term ‘broken’ was being used literally here which made the attention
that they were drawing more understandable.

“Wow! These games are really fun!”

“Yeah… they are…”

Shidou heard what Tohka said as she smiled innocently while he responded with a weak smile.

At the same time, he muttered into the earpiece:

“...Hey, Kotori, is this really okay?”

[“Yes. <Ratatoskr> can handle everything afterwards. Although it’s not good that there’s a lot of
attention on the two of you, but for now, our biggest priority is that Tohka can relieve her
stress.”]

“That’s good…”

“Shidou?”
“...! W-What?”

Tohka spoke from her place next to him and gently tapped his shoulder.

After glancing at Shidou with a puzzled look, she looked around at the game center again.

“What game should we play next?”

“A-Ah, what game should we play next…”

Shidou glanced around at the remaining games, then…

[“Wait just a moment.”]

He heard Kotori’s voice from the earpiece.

“—Okay, what should we play next?”

These words echoed throughout the bridge of the <Fraxinus> that was gliding 15,000 meters
above Tenguu City.

Kotori Itsuka leaned back in her chair, a chupa chups in her mouth.

She was a young girl with long red hair tied into two long twin tails and was dressed in a red
military uniform with the jacket draped over her shoulders.

She was clearly the youngest person on this bridge, but despite that, she was seated in the
commander’s seat of the <Fraxinus>

“—Reine, how is Tohka’s mood?”

When Kotori asked, Reine Murasame, the head analyst who was operating a console on the
lower bridge, rubbed the dark circles around her eyes as she spoke:

“...Well, it looks like the values are good so it isn’t a problem now. Although she continues to
damage the machines, her powers have gradually stabilized.”

The screen on the center of the bridge now showed an image of Tohka’s upper body. Then
around her, there were rows listed with various values such as ‘mood’ or ‘favorability’. There
was even a dialogue window open. It was something straight out of a visual novel.

“Really? That’s good to hear.”

“...Yeah. But there’s still one thing I’m concerned about.”

“What is it?”
“...Although her mood has improved, it seems her uneasiness numbers are still high. It looks like
she may be worried about something.”

“Worried about something—Shidou, can you think of anything?”

Kotori spoke through the microphone. Shidou’s response was just as prompt.

“No, at least not off the top of my head.”

“Really? That’s useless.”

“Never mind. Let’s just let her keep playing for a while longer and see what happens.”

The moment Kotori finished speaking, a new window appeared at the center of the screen with a
list of choices:

① The two of them work together to play a guessing game!

② Play the game of detection fit and recognize the bond between the two again!

③ Take a picture together and leave sweet memories!

The artificial intelligence of the <Fraxinus> was able to assess Tohka’s mental state and
proposed a series of options that would fit the situation.

“—So this is what we have to work with. What is your choice?”

In less than five seconds after Kotori spoke, the device in her hand showed an image of a bar
graph.

The crew on the bridge were quick to make the decision and submitted it to Kotori’s terminal.

The choice with the most votes was—③.

“Hmm, it looks like everyone seems to agree then.”

“There’s no need to discuss why ① is out: you might get frustrated because you can’t guess the
correct answer.” The vice-commander who was standing behind Kotori explained.

“...Although ② is not a bad option, but if it turns out that they aren’t compatible with each other,
it would only make things awkward between them. ③ is perfect because not only do they get a
souvenir featuring the two of them, they will also become attached to the photos. Plus they’ll be
able to get some privacy in that confined space concealed by the curtain.”

This was Reine’s explanation.

“That’s our best approach—Shidou, take Tohka to the photo booth. Let’s take some cute pictures
together.”

“...I understand. But I… I don’t know how to use the sticker machine.”

“There are instructions on how to use it written there. To waste time talking, get moving.”

“...Got it.”

“—Tohka, do you want to go over there?”

“Muu, alright.”

Shidou accepted <Ratatoskr>’s instructions as he guided Tohka toward the photo booth.

“...? Shidou, what is this?”

“”A-Ah, in simple terms, it’s a machine that can take cute pictures.”

“What…!”

Shidou explained in a simple way. However, Tohka’s eyes went wide and her cheeks turned red.

“Y-You said pictures…?”

“Huh? Tohka, are you okay?”

“...No, I don’t really like having my picture taken like this…”

“Huh? Is that so?”

Shidou asked as Tohka nodded, her face flushed.

“Well, if that’s the case, then why don’t we play something else?”

“Muu…”

However, Tohka mumbled to herself for a moment as though deep in thought. After a moment’s
hesitation, she spoke:

“...Shidou, do you want my picture?”

“Eh…? A-Ah, of course, I want it…”

Shidou’s answer was a little unclear so Tohka took a deep breath as if to calm herself down and
then locked with Shidou who’d since turned his gaze to the ceiling.
“...Just this once, I’ll do it for you, Shidou.”

“A-Ah, okay…”

Shidou suddenly felt a wave of calm sweep over him for some reason and nodded at the same
time. Tohka walked into the photo booth labeled “Full-body shot”.

Shidou intended to follow her inside, however—

“...! W-Wait, Shidou, why are you coming in?!”

He found himself stopped by Tohka.

“Huh? Are you supposed to do these sorts of things together?”

“Don’t… Just stop talking nonsense! Just wait for me outside!”

After Tohka finished speaking, she drew the curtain.

“A-Ah…”

Shidou lightly tapped the earpiece as he tried to figure out how to deal with this.

“Let’s just wait for her. Once she’s done, just take a picture with both of you.”

“Ah… right…”

Shidou nodded slightly as he rested against the machine where Tohka walked in.

...However, after waiting for a while, nothing seemed to happen.

“...Hey, Kotori, does it usually take a while to take a picture?”

[“It depends on how things go. The latest models let you add text and other filters after taking the
picture. If you want a really beautiful photo, it will take some time.”]

“Wow… such an incredible machine… But where did Tohka learn how to use it?”

“Who knows. But I know that Tohka has had her picture taken before. I think it was when
<Ratatoskr> took her photo while we were working on her protection…”

Just as Shidou and Kotori were discussing this, the photo printout installed on the outside of the
machine spit out the printed photo sticker.

“Um…? Have you finished having your picture taken?”

Shidou bent down to pick up the sticker—

“Pffft…!”

His entire face immediately turned red.

[“What’s wrong, Shidou?”]

Shidou quickly hid the picture in his hand in his school bag.

The reason why was obvious: the picture featured Tohka’s naked figure.

‘Tohka! What the hell are you doing—”

Shidou was confused by the unexpected turn of events and immediately pulled the curtain open.

At that moment, Shidou immediately regretted his carelessness.

Because that kind of photo just came out, it meant—

“—!”

“Why…!”

Shidou felt his body freeze as he threw the curtain open.

She’d clearly intended to put her clothes back on. When he opened the curtain, she was clad only
in her underwear and was busy pulling on her long black socks. She wore nothing else; her dark
hair was splayed across the hardwood bench.

“K-Kotori… the photo she had taken for <Ratatoskr>...”

[“Ah, yeah, she was basically naked for that one. Ah, rest assured, only female staff members
were allowed to help her.”]

“N-No, that’s not the issue here—”

[“Ara? Haven’t you closed the curtain yet? Stupid…!”]

“AAAAAAHH!”

Shidou’s face was devastated by the Spirit.

“...”

Meanwhile in another part of the game center.

Origami was silently operating the buttons of a skill crane machine.

Needless to say, among the prizes inside were the panda Ronnie cell phone charm of the dream
panda that Shidou mentioned before.

There were three colors in total: the ordinary panda color, red, and the inverted colored black and
white.

—That’s right. She happened to overhear the conversation between Shidou and his friend after
school that day.

After all, she hadn’t stayed behind to eavesdrop on Shidou and then gotten into an argument with
Yatogami Tohka. Definitely not.

“...”

The robot arm barely grazed over the negative color form of panda Ronnie’s head—still not
captured.

However, Origami’s expression remained unchanged as she inserted another coin.

At that moment.

A “ding-dong” sound could be heard from the entire game center.

“W-What happened?”

“Ah, it looks like there’s a couple playing too harshly with the boxing machines and the gloves
are dangling inside.”

“Really? What, is the boyfriend a professional boxer or something?”

“No, it seems that the girlfriend went overboard.”

“W-What is it like right now?”

“...”

—It sounded like a very troublesome couple. Origami mused as she continued to operate the
crane silently.

If it were her and Shidou Itsuka, there was no doubt that they wouldn’t be doing this kind of
thing.

Instead, they would have been enjoying a quiet cup of tea in an outdoor cafe.

“...”
At that moment, the robotic crane managed to catch the negative color panda Ronnie and
managed to make its way toward the exit but ended up dropping it halfway.

While unfortunate, it was nonetheless still in a good position and would be easy to capture on her
next attempt.

—She made to insert another coin but her fingers stopped.

It seemed that she’d run out of game tokens.

“...”

Origami had no choice but to run to the currency exchange machine.

“...Sorry…”

“No… It was my fault.”

Tohka who was now fully dressed apologized to Shidou while Shidou responded in kind while
touching his now swollen cheeks.

“But... Anyway, now you know, you don’t have to take off your clothes while having your
picture taken.”

“...Umu… I will remember.”

Tohka nodded, her frustration clear on her face.

[“Ahahaha! Looks like your face wasn’t fully beaten in! You’re really luck, Shidou!”]

He could hear Kotori’s cheerful voice in his ear.

He tapped on the earpiece in protest and she continued onward.

[“—Anyway, it looks like Tohka’s mental state has stabilized. We’ve achieved our goal. Now, as
long as you manage to figure out how to lower her anxiety value, things will be back to normal
for now.”]

“...Anxiety…”

Shidou looked at Tohka and tilted his head.

“—Huh?”

Tohka’s gaze was fixed on the crane game machine on the right side.
“Tohka? What’s wrong?”

“Shidou? How do you play this?”

“Ah… after you press that button…”

Shidou quickly explained how to play the game and then glanced at the prizes in the crane game
machine. The previously mentioned panda Ronnie mobile phone charm was present and was
each individually packaged.

“—Maybe it’s that feeling…”

“Umu.”

Tohka said as she pulled out a 100-yen coin from her wallet and inserted it into the machine.

She then operated the machine just like Shidou taught her to just now and moved the robotic
arm.

However—even without catching the prize.

“Muu… this is so hard…”

“It’s hard to play this game with ease… If you want, do you want me to get it for you?”

When Shidou suggested this, Tohka shook her head vigorously.

“No, that would be nonsense. Let me play.”

“So that’s it—Ah, why don’t you try to grab that? It’s positioned well.”

“Muu?”

Tohka’s gaze locked onto what Shidou was pointing at

Indeed where he was pointing was the inverted colors Ronnie placed at a wonderful angle. If she
could successfully hook the claw around the hole in the plastic packaging, she could definitely
catch it.

“Oh!”

Tohka’s eyes lit up once more as she inserted another 100-yen coin.

She then pressed the buttons and managed to get the robot arm to hook around the hole in the
plastic packaging.
“Oh! I got it, Shidou!”

“Yeah, that was really amazing! Even if the position was good, you still managed to catch on the
second try!”

“Well, something like that…”

At that moment, Tohka suddenly stopped speaking.

Although the robot arm returned to the top to deposit the prize out, the prize did not fall.

“Muu… what’s going on?”

“Ah… it looks like it’s stuck. If you run into a situation like this, just tell the clerk—”

“Hmph!”

Just as Shidou was partway through the sentence, he could hear a loud thud.

He didn’t need to think about the cause because he already knew: it was Tohka who’d punched a
hole through the plastic window of the crane game machine.

“...Tohka…”

“Umu.”

Tohka removed the panda Ronnie charm hooked on the robot arm casually and nodded in
satisfaction.

“Muu, let’s go home, Shidou.”

“O-Okay, let’s go home.”

“...”

After exchanging the money, Origami quickly made her way back to the crane game machine
and froze on the spot.

The reason was obvious—now there was a giant hole in the machine where Origami had been
playing. More importantly, it looked like the inverted color panda Ronnie was also gone.

“Who did this…?”

She spoke quietly.

However—
“Come on! Excuse us! Right here!”

With those noises, there were several workers who’d just entered the game center and
immediately went to work replacing the previously damaged machines with the brand new
replacements from their transport.

The new machines were brought in immediately while the old machines were taken out.

“Okay! We’re done here so we’ll be off now!”

It seemed that the operators had reconnected all the wires and replaced the prizes and confirmed
that all the machines were working the way they should.

—This whole process took less than ten minutes.

It seemed that the other machines destroyed by the mysterious couple have also been replaced
with brand new replacements in much the same way.

“...”

Although these were inexplicable circumstances, Origami had more important things to be
concerned about right now. She stood silently in front of the crane game and stared at the
countless panda Ronnies.

Unlike before, they were all positions so that it would be easy to capture them.

If that was the case…

Origami’s eyes shone brightly but quietly as she stacked 5 100 yen coins next to the buttons.

“...Did you want that one so badly?”

On their way home from the game center, Shidou tried to talk to Tohka who was walking next to
him as they made their way down the dark streets.

“Muu…”

Tohka suddenly stopped.

“Tohka…?”

Shidou also stopped as he turned to face Tohka.

She lowered her head slightly and handed the panda Ronnie to Shidou.

“Huh…?”
“Here. This is for you, so—no, it seems weird to say it like that. How do I say…”

Shidou was confused by Tohka’s vague way of speaking.

“What are you trying to say?”

Shidou asked as she bit her lip anxiously but she strengthened her resolve and continued:

“...Please don’t hate me.”

“W-What? You… what are you talking about?”

Shidou frowned in deep confusion and then with an ‘ah’ of revelation, he remembered what
happened before.

“Are you still worried about what happened before?”

“Muu… It’s a little…”

Tohka was silent for a moment and then said:

“...Shidou, do you remember when I quarreled with Origami Tobiichi?”

“Ah… I remember.”

Tohka, in that moment, looked like an upset child with her lips formed into a pout as she
continued.

“...At that time, she said.”

“What did she say?”

When Shidou asked, Tohka glanced up briefly as though trying to peak at Shidou expression
while stuttering, she continued:

“...Spirits, it is impossible for them to coexist with humans. And humans can’t allow Spirits that
destroy the world. So—”

After biting her lips in determination, she continued:

“Shidou hates creatures like Spirits the most.”

“...Oh.”

Shidou scratched his cheek.

She looked to be in distress. Although it would be inappropriate to say this out loud… but he
thought that sort of thing was pretty weak.

It must have been this kind of thing that made Tokha feel scared.

...He briefly wondered if she actually wanted to take that picture even though she didn’t want to
but she was worried about being hated by Shidou.

“...Now, Shidou is that actually the case? That Shidou also hates me—”

“It’s alright.”

“...Really?”

Tohka looked at Shidou uneasily.

“Really.”

“Is it really true?”

“Really true.”

“Is it really really true?”

“It’s really really true.”

Shidou thought for a moment and then said:

“Plus, I don’t think I would want to go on a date with someone I didn’t like, something like
that…”

“Oh…!”

After Shidou finished speaking, Tohka’s eyes widened.

“Ah… that’s what I thought…”

Tohka’s cheeks were flushed a faint pink and a gentle smile graced her lips.

Shidou then returned the inverted color panda Ronnie to Tohka.

“So you hold on to this. It’s rare to be able to catch it by yourself. Think of it as a memento for
today, okay?”

“Umu, I will.”

Tohka mumbled happily as she accepted the inverted panda Ronnie.

At that moment, he could hear Kotori’s voice in his ear again.

[“—75 points. That’s good enough for a pass…”]

“...That’s good to hear.”

The following day.

While waiting for Shidou to come to school, there was a group of girls with their arms and legs
spread out dramatically, standing and exuding fierceness.

“The pervert is here.”

“Why don’t you just die already?”

“Oink like a pig!”

“W-What?”

Although Shidou didn’t understand what was going on, he immediately froze on the spot, but
when Tohka who was standing right behind him wore a troubled expression, they seemed to
immediately understand the situation.

“Everyone! I already said that Shidou didn’t do anything wrong.”

Tohka said to the other girls.

“It’s alright, Tohka, we will make sure that this perverted sexual beast won’t be able to gain a
foothold in society.”

“You must have been so scared. Poor Tohka, let us avenge you of your chastity!”

“...That’s how it is. In order to understand the situation, you need to tell us in as much detail as
possible about what happened yesterday. What did he do to you? Tell us, what did he do to you?”

Tohka shook her head vigorously in response to what the girls said.

“No! Although I don’t really understand what you are talking about, you are probably mistaken!
Yesterday, Shidou just took me to a place called a game center!”

“What…?”

Upon hearing what Tohka said, the girls suddenly froze.

Then their gazes glassed over as they remembered what was discussed yesterday—
“...Really? Itsuka-kun.”

“...Yeah. That’s right.”

“...”

The girls should have understood from the beginning but now that they knew the full situation—

“Ahhhhhh! Whoops! How could we think that Itsuka-kun could do that kind of thing.”

“I...I already tried to tell you from the beginning that this was all a misunderstanding.”

“In short, Tohka is really safe…”

When they finished speaking, there were relieved smiles on their faces.

“...Anyway, now the misunderstanding was cleared up…”

Shidou sighed helplessly as he took his seat and pulled out the textbook for the first lesson from
his school bag.

—At that moment, something fell out of Shidou’s school bag.

“Ah, something fell out, Itsuka-kun.”

“Ah, thanks—”

At that moment, Shidou felt the blood in his veins freeze in an instant.

Because what fell out of the schoolbag was—

“—What...!”

The female student who’d picked up the picture gasped.

Honestly, her reaction was understanding because suddenly seeing Tohka’s nude photos, surely
anyone would respond like that.

“Wait! This is just a misunderstanding!

“What kind of misunderstanding could this possibly be! Doing it right in the game center…
forced nudity! Isn’t that even more perverted!?”

“N-No… This is—!”

“Don’t try to resist—!”

“A-Ah!”

Shidou covered his face with hands as he ran out of the classroom.

“Ah! Shidou! Where are you going!”

Tohka called from somewhere behind but he didn’t have a chance to glance over his shoulder
because he knew that if he stopped for even a moment, there would be a cruel and unrelenting
assault waiting for him.

“Ah! Why did I do such a stupid thing! Why didn’t I put it away when I had a chance! I’m an
idiot—!”

Shidou shouted as he ran down the corridor.

Then—

“Whoa!”

Halfway down the corridor, he could feel someone grab the neckline of his shirt and he’d almost
fallen over.

“W-What’s going on?” He coughed.

For one wild moment, he thought that the girls managed to catch him—but that wasn’t the case.
It was Tobiichi Origami who’d grabbed onto the collar of his shirt.

“Origami?”

“Take this.”

After letting go of Shidou’s shirt, Origami pulled something out of her school bag and passed it
over to Shidou.

“Huh? Isn’t this…”

That was the panda Ronnie (red) cell phone charm of the dream panda.

“Take it.”

“Eh… I can’t do that.”

“Take it.”

“...Ah…”
“Take it.”

“...Thank you…”

Shidou was overwhelmed by Origami’s oppressive momentum as he accepted the panda Ronnie
from her.

Then Origami pulled out her cell phone with the normal colored panda Ronnnie from her school
bag.

“We match.”

“Ah… Y-Yes…”

“...”

After Shidou nodded, Origami put her cell phone away and made her way back to the classroom.

“W-What was that about…?”

Just as Shidou slumped to the ground in the corridor with a blank look on his face, this time he
heard hurried footsteps coming toward him. It seemed that Tohka had been chasing after Shidou.

“Shidou! Are you okay?”

“A-Ah…”

“It’s safe to go back. I explained everything to them—Eh?”

Halfway through her sentence, Tohka’s gaze drifted to Shidou’s hand.

Of course, because in his hand was the panda Ronnie charm that Origami gave him just now.

“Oh!”

Tohka pulled the inverted color Panda Ronnie from her pocket.

“We match, Shidou!”

“Y-Yeah…!”

Shidou scratched his cheek as he answered.

Shidou, Tohka, and even Origami somehow came out to have the same thing.
Origami Impossible

“Honestly, I am a pedophile.”

It was during a school holiday while sitting in a cafe at a street corner.

Shidou Itsuka admitted this quietly.

“Every day, I go to the nearby elementary school to watch the elementary school girls when
they’re doing their PE classes. Their pure, flawless, flat and underdeveloped bodies make my
Sandalphon go wild. Elementary school girls are truly the best!”

“Are they?”

With regards to listening to Shidou’s once-in-a-lifetime breaking news, the girl who was sitting
across from him, Origami did not wear a disgusted expression but simply nodded slightly.

She had shoulder length hair and a slender figure. Her expressionless face was like that of a doll.

She suddenly glanced down, touching her chest unconsciously and then replied to Shidou and
said:

“I can do it.”

“What do you mean!?”

Shidou couldn’t help but shout out before regaining his composure. It wouldn’t be any good if he
started panicking now. He cleared his throat with a cough and then said:

“In fact, it’s not just that. I still have a serious Oedipus complex. Every morning, I still kiss my
mother’s picture before I go to school.”

“Is that so?”

“...It’s true… in fact, I also have a sister complex and I often make Kotori sleep next to me.”

“Is that so?”

“Um…! I-I’m not faithful! Right now, I’ve got about ten girls!”

“...!”

Shidou’s eyebrows twitched for the first time after he shouted that out albeit in a half-hearted
way.
He thought he finally managed to get a reaction out of her. In that moment, Origami’s lips moved
and she said without a change in tone:

“It’s not a problem so long as I get rid of all of them.”

“What are you saying! Oh, what are you saying!?”

Shidou’s cries were almost as loud as shouts as he clutched his head.

Then, a stunned voice came from the earpiece he’d worn on his right ear:

[“...Wow, what’s with this unbearable force, has she become the overlord of the century?”]

Kotori, Shidou’s little sister, spoke through the earpiece. Obviously, he could only hear her voice,
but he had a strong feeling she looked just as frustrated as he felt.

“She still looks like this… T-Tell me what to do now…”

[“Stop whining. Now as for the next move…”]

After she finished speaking, she gave him additional instructions.

This surreal dating scene was caused by what happened the previous day.

During the lunch break one day:

In a classroom at Raizen High School, Tohka Yatogami happily showed off the cell phone held in
her hand.

“Oh, what do you think, Shidou! Kotori gave this to me! It seems to be something that I can use
to talk to other people from far away!”

Her long dark hair fluttered in the air, a broad smile stretched across her beautiful face as Tohka
raised the phone in her hand.

“O-Oh, that’s great to hear.”

Shidou smiled kindly.

...Tohka held it almost reverently in her hand. It seemed to be a simple and old-fashioned model
that was easy for even elderly people to use. Anyway, it seemed that she was genuinely happy
about it so there was no reason to spoil her good mood.

That said, Shidou and Kotori had spent a lot of time discussing all kinds of different models of
cell phones. Although the appearance was just like any other phone, it could endure a ton of
weight.
Also, even if the cell towers were destroyed in the event of a disaster, she would still be able to
communicate via satellite.

...To be honest, such equipment was probably overkill for an ordinary high school girl to have.

But—this couldn’t be helped.

The truth was that Tohka was not an ordinary human being, but instead an existence known as a
Spirit. It was an existence who wielded extraordinary power and had the potential to destroy the
world.

Although it was possible to seal away Spirit power—if her mental state becomes unstable, the
sealed power will reverse and flow back into her. So Kotori, who was the commander of the
organization <Ratatoskr>, was obviously worried about this.

Therefore, it was necessary to ensure that she had a way to contact them in the event of an
emergency beforehand.

“Okay, Shidou! I’m going to try it and see!”

However, Tohka turned away with a bright smile on her face that was such a stark contrast to that
dangerous title.

“I’m going to call you from far away! Shidou, you absolutely have to answer it!”

“Oh… so that’s what you’re doing. I got it.”

Shidou smiled wryly as he nodded in agreement. He remembered when he’d gotten his
cellphone, he wanted to try calling someone just like Tohka.

“Okay, I’m off!”

Tohka finished as she opened the classroom door and rushed down the hallway.

“Make sure you come back before the lunch break is over!”

“—I will—!”

Tohka’s faint response came from the other end of the corridor.

At that moment:

“—Shidou.”

“Whoa!”
Someone called out to Shidou from behind him and made his shoulders tremble.

Turning around, it was Origami Tobiichi who’d appeared behind him silently.

...It seemed she showed up as soon as Tohka disappeared.

“Yes… did you need something? Origami…?”

“Do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly being asked about this sort of thing, Shidou could only reply blankly… At the same
time, he had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

“W-Why so suddenly…”

“I want to go out with you.”

“T-That means…”

“A date.”

“...”

Shidou’s suspicions were confirmed as he broke into a nervous sweat.

“...Origami, just so I can confirm, we are—”

“A couple.”

“...”

“...I thought so.”

Shidou asked Origami nervously while Origami responded immediately without a trace of
nervousness.

Sure enough she looked just as serious as ever.

Origami didn’t pay Shidou’s nervousness any mind and continued calmly:

“How about it?”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I’m busy tomorrow—”

However, halfway through the sentence, Shidou suddenly gasped.

He suddenly felt an oppressive pressure. If a weaker willed person faced this, there was no doubt
that they might just pass out. This pressure was truly powerful.

“Ah, that...Ah, I’m sure that if anything comes up tomorrow, can you wait for me…?”

Origami nodded slightly.

Shidou immediately panicked as he jogged down the corridor while scrolling to find and select
the name “Kotori Itsuka” from his call history. Although he was still waiting for Tohka’s call… if
Tohka called, he should be able to answer her regardless so it should be okay. After waiting on
the tone of the phone ringing, a warm voice came from the other end:

[“Hello! Onii-chan?”]

“...Kotori, please help find a way out of this…”

[“Huh? What are you talking about?”]

“Origami asked me to go on a date with her.”

[“...”]

After Shidou finished speaking, Kotori fell silent for a moment.

Next, Shidou heard the sound of cloth shuffling from the speaker. It sounded like she was
replacing the ribbons that tied her hair.

[“—This is ridiculous, are you seriously still involved with her?”]

In the next moment, her tone, now more confident and terse, was completely different from when
she picked up.

—Kotori had shifted into her <Commander Mode>.

“...In the end, if it wasn’t for your <training>, this relationship…!”

That’s right. When Tohka first appeared, they’d had Shidou do some special <Female Habitual
Training> for Shidou to get used to talking to women. In that process, they’d forced Shidou to
profess his love to Origami.

Unfortunately, because so much had happened between then and now, there hadn’t been an
opportunity to resolve the misunderstanding—until now, that is.

[“This is a pain. Just ignore her.”]

“H-How could I do such a thing… Originally, it was our fault that all of this happened. How
could we keep messing around with her like this!”

[“You want to be honest—then why don’t you just tell her that the whole confession was a
misunderstanding?” ]

“...How am I supposed to pull that off?”

[“Hmm? Then why don’t you spit on her and then say: ‘I’m not going to date someone like you!
Don’t be mistaken! You’re a psychopath!’”]

“If I say that, I’ll definitely get shot!”

Shidou couldn’t help but shout. There was no denying that if he said that kind of thing, he would
be killed on the spot.

[“Since you’re so picky—Why don’t we make it so the other party hates you?”]

“Huh?”

[“Like I said, accept that date and in turn, I will adjust the AI settings on the <Fraxinus> to help
you prepare options that will make the date terrible and make her want to break up with you. If
the other party hates you, there’s no problem, right?”]

The so-called <Fraxinus> was the airship owned by <Ratatoskr>.

Normally, when a Spirit appears, the artificial intelligence aboard the ship will provide the
options and choosing and following the prompts will help to improve the relationship with the
Spirit.

“R-Really…”

It made sense. He would surely get slapped if he did something like that but he could handle that.

“...I get it. So I can count on you for support?”

[“Of course. Considering the future, it would also be troublesome if we have to deal with her all
the time—but there’s still one last problem to deal with.”]

“What’s that?”

[“Tohka. We don’t have school tomorrow as it’s a Saturday, remember? If Tohka’s all by herself,
she’ll come over to play. But if you’re not there, there’s no doubt that her emotional state will
drop.”]
“Even if I’m not there…”

As soon Shidou said so, Kotori responded to him with a dumbfounded sigh.

“W-What are you doing?”

[“Nope, anyway, in order to focus resolutely on this, you have to get Tohka do something else
beforehand.]

“Something else… Ah…”

[“Right, it doesn’t matter what you want to ask her to do whether that means to buy things or
anything else—just make sure to ask her to do something difficult so that it’ll take some more
time for her to finish. In other words, it wouldn’t be strange for her not to be with Shidou at that
time.”]

“—Anyway, promise Tobiichi Origami a date.”

“Right… I got it.”

After Shidou hung up the phone, he nervously returned to the classroom.

When he returned, he spotted Origami maintaining the same posture as ever, standing upright.

“How about it?”

“O-Oh… no problem…”

“...”

Origami remained silent but she made a gesture of victory with her fist without so much as a
change in her expression…

“O-Origami…?”

“Tomorrow at 10:00 am, I will be waiting for you in front of the fountain in West Tenguu Park.”

Origami simply said this as she left.

He didn’t know why but he couldn’t help but watch her leave with a brisk pace.

“...”

Shidou felt sweat trickle down his cheeks, he heard loud footsteps sound outside the classroom.
The classroom door suddenly opened and Tohka, who seemed to be running, appeared once
more.

“Shidou! This… How do I use this thing!”

It seemed that she didn’t know how to make a phone call, and so she’d asked Shidou while
wearing a troubled expression on her face.

However, at that moment, Tohka seemed to notice Shidou’s expression which seemed even more
trouble than her own, so she tilted her head in confusion.

“Shidou? Is there something wrong?”

“No! I’m fine…”

Shidou cleared his throat as he took his seat.

“...Ah, Tohka.”

“Muu? What’s the matter?”

“I’m sorry for asking so suddenly… but tomorrow, do you think you could run some errands for
me?”

After Shidou finished speaking, Tohka’s eyes seemed to light up.

“Oh! Okay! What do you need me to do?”

She seemed to be very happy for the opportunity to help Shidou and leaned her body forward
towards Shidou’s desk.

Feeling a twinge of nervousness, Shidou looked away awkwardly.

The following day, after Shidou asked Tohka to run some errands for him, he put the earpiece in
his right ear, and made his way toward the destination for his date with Origami.

Incidentally, Shidou was currently dressed in a loose t-shirt, frayed jeans, and toilet slippers and
he couldn’t bring himself to go.

Honestly, all of this was embarrassing to Shidou… However, girls hated boys who didn’t stay
clean and looked sloppy. To start, using this method to make Origami hate him was the best bet.

[“Shidou, it’s fine to walk more slowly.”]

He could hear Kotori’s voice from the earpiece on his right ear.
Kotori was currently on the bridge aboard the airship <Fraxinus> that was floating above Tenguu
City.

It was currently 10:50 am. It had been 50 minutes since the appointed time.

[“We have to be at least an hour late. Also, no matter what she says, you can’t ever apologize.”]

“Yeah…”

They were very thorough with the plan. But this all made sense: she would surely be angry if he
was late. It might depend from person to person and it was possible that she’d already given up
and gone home long before now.

He walked as slowly as he could and around 11:00 am, Shidou finally reached their meeting
place.

There, Origami could be seen standing with perfect posture.

“Ah…”

There were obviously plenty of benches nearby but the fact that Origami had been waiting this
long for Shidou and he couldn’t help but feel a stab of guilt for her. However, he couldn’t afford
to show such a reaction. Because Shidou had to play the role of a terrible person who hated
Origami for today.

[Right, are you mentally prepared?”]

“I-I am…”

[“Very good—Now let’s get started. The first task is the first contact.”]

Kotori snapped her fingers.

Shidou gently slapped his cheeks and continued making his way toward Origami slowly.

At that moment, Origami noticed Shidou approaching and turned to face him.

Then…

“—Thank goodness…”

As soon as she spotted Shidou, she spoke gently.

“Huh…?”

“I was worried something terrible happened to you…”

“...Eh!”

Shidou had clearly messed up here. Not only did Origami not complain about his tardiness, but
she seemed more concerned about Shidou’s safety.

[“What do you think you’re doing, Shidou? If you start feeling guilty because this, how are you
going end this?”]

“A-Ah… you’re right…”

Shidou nodded slightly as he mumbled and then Origami gestured to her outfit.

“What do you think?”

“Huh?”

“Today’s outfit.”

As he heard her ask this question, Shidou took a closer look at Origami’s outfit.

She wore a shirt that not only looked nice but felt comfortable to touch, a pleated skirt, a
sparkling necklace around her neck. Her outfit was a stark contrast to Shidou’s less than
impressive outfit.

“O-Oh, it’s perfect for—”

[“Hey! Why are you praising her so naturally?”]

“...!”

After hearing Kotori calling him out on his behavior, Shidou quickly shut his mouth.

He cleared his throat and shook his head slightly and spoke again:

“No… Well… It doesn’t suit you at all…!”

“...”

Origami glanced down at her outfit silently. While there was no change in her expression, Shidou
had the impression that she seemed a little disappointed and lonely.

Origami looked into Shidou’s eyes once more.

“What kind of outfit do you think would be best?”

“Huh…? T-That…”
The moment Shidou made to answer, Kotori intervened in from his right ear and said:

[“—Wait a minute! Now’s our chance. Deal a heavy blow to her!”]

Kotori finished speaking, she let out a breath with her nose.

Aboard the <Fraxinus>, Origami’s figure was now front and center on the main screen on the
bridge.

There were various values displayed next to her image and a text window placed below her just
like something out of a dating sim.

At that moment, three options appeared on screen:

① A tiny bikini with a maid apron.

② A sailor suit shirt and triangular sweatpants on the legs

③ A school swimsuit with dog ears and tail.

“Wow, these are so really good choices.”

There was a chupa chups lollipop in Kotori’s mouth and the crimson military jacket draped over
her shoulders as she sat in the commander’s sesat. Her brows were furrowed as she looked at the
main screen.

“—Everyone! Make your choices! Remember that we’re looking for the choice that is the most
disgusting to the girl!”

After Kotori finished speaking, the small display in her hand immediately showed the final
outcome.

Although the competition was fierce… it seemed that the majority had chosen ③.”

“Hmm… It looks like ③ is the most popular choice.”

After Kotori conveyed the option, Shidou’s shoulders trembled slightly.

The options that Kotori proposed would make the other party doubt Shidou’s tastes.

...However, he still had to answer. Shidou gulped nervously and opened his trembling lips and
said:

“...A-A school swimsuit with dog ears and tail.”

Shidou gritted his teeth and shut his eyes tightly as he tensed his body as he finished speaking.
...Of course, he was bracing himself for any furiously slaps or punches she’d planned to throw.

However, what actually happened was different from what Shidou was expecting. No matter how
long he waited, he didn’t feel any pain from being attacked. He cautiously opened his eyes… It
seemed that Origami’s figure had disappeared.

Maybe she’d gotten so angry that she’d decided to go home.

[“—Wow, that was much easier than I was expecting. Congratulations, Shidou. Mission
accomplished.”]

“Y-Yeah… thanks.”

Shidou scratched his cheek while dealing with his conflicted emotions.

Anyway, this should have been fine. Origami no longer cared about someone like Shidou—

At that moment, Shidou was forced to stop thinking.

Because he spotted Origami running towards him from a distance.

—How did she manage to find those? Origami was now dressed in a school swimsuit complete
with dog ears and tail.

“Wha…”

Shidou and Kotori said in unison.

However, after Origami reached Shidou, she tilted her head and asked casually:

“What do you think of this?”

After she spoke, she turned around in place.

The dark blue fabric covering her pale and slender body and the lovely dog ears and tail
wobbled… It was equal parts cute and vulgar.

However, there was another issue that was of greater concern:

“Where did you get that outfit…”

“There’s a shop nearby that sells these kinds of outfits.”

Origami pointed vaguely in the direction of the nearby street… On that day, Shidou discovered
something new about Tenguu City that he desperately wished to forget.
“We should get going.”

Origami turned around and pointed toward the shopping district.

“Uh… that…”

Just as Shidou was worried about whether it was really okay to wear such an outfit, Kotori’s
voice sounded in his ears once more.

“...Why didn’t her favorability values fall with those kinds of words? This should have been
simple!”

Kotori leaned back in her seat aboard <Fraxinus> and twirling the chupa chups stick as she
spoke angrily.

“What should we do? Commander…”

“We’ll continue our attack! Come out with some truly awful choices that will make Tobiichi
Origami recoil!”

After Kotori finished speaking, the next set of choices appeared on screen:

① “Hey! It’s too arrogant for you, a bitch, to be walking like a human. Get down in front of
me!”

② “Ah! I’m so tired! I’m so tired of walking! Carry me!”

③ “Ugh, seriously, can you stay away from me? You’re disgusting!”

“...Hehe, this is good. Each option is absolutely terrible. Everyone! Your choices!” Kotori’s
personal device immediately showed the outcome results.

“The most popular choice is ①—Ah.”

“Although these are all words and deeds that make people want to doubt human nature, there’s
no denying that option ① is particularly awful.”

The crew seated in the lower level of the bridge explained. Kotori nodded in agreement.

“It’s safe to say that if someone like Shidou were to say such a thing, they would probably want
to kill him.”

“...”

Somehow, the crew remained silent for a while but Kotori pulled the microphone toward as she
spoke.
“What…”

He heard the instructions from Kotori and Shidou wiped his face with a hand… the difficulty had
just increased drastically.

[“Why are you hesitating? Don’t you want her to hate you and leave you? How can you not do
this? Or what? Do you really think you can gracefully handle a relationship with her?”]

“Ugh…” Shidou grumbled quietly. Kotori was right, of course. The whole point was to make
Origami hate him and not try to protect her feelings.

Shidou glanced at Origami who was walking next to him and slowly moved his trembling lips
and said:

“...You… are a bitch… to be walking at the height of human beings… too arrogant. Get down on
your knees…”

After Shidou finished speaking, Origami trembled from her place beside him.

It seemed that this provoked her to annoyance. Shidou gently clenched his fists in
triumph—yet…

“...”

Origami bent down onto her knees without a second thought and sat on the ground immediately.

“W-What…!”

[“W-What…!”]

The Itsuka siblings both watched this and let out surprised voices at the same time.

However, Origami tilted her head suspiciously as she looked up into Shidou’s face.

“Aren’t you going?”

“No, uh, that…”

“While Shidou was stammering incoherently, Origami nodded as though realizing something and
stood up.

Then she wrapped her hands around Shidou’s waist and began to loosen Shidou’s belt with a
snap.

“W-What are you doing, O-Origami! N-No… d-don’t, s-stop it—!”

Even as Shidou let out a feminine-sounding shriek—Origami did not stop as she pulled the belt
in one fluid motion from his jeans.

Then she wrapped it around her own neck and tightened it to serve as a makeshift collar and
leash which she then handed the other end to Shidou.

Then…

“Woof!”

She barked out.

The passers-by around them looked at them as though they were witnessing a surreal event.

“...What a pain. To think that they’d be doing such things in broad daylight…”

“Wow, to think that couples like that actually exist…”

“Uh, I feel like I should be recording this…”

“Hey Mom! Why is that Onee-san barking? Is she a dog?”

“D-Don’t look at them…!”

“...”

Shidou’s face was now drenched in sweat. He could no longer stop himself as he bowed down
and shouted, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean for you to actually do it!”
Meanwhile, in the middle of the shopping district.

“Alright, what’s next…?”

Tohka looked down at the notebook paper in her hand and sighed.

The groceries she’d bought so far were in the bag that Shidou gave and was almost full to
bursting. But as far as the first errand was concerned, so far it had been going smoothly.

“...Sata Andagi? What is that?”

The foreign words made Tohka frown. Although she didn’t know what it was, it sounded like it
was very important.

—While Tohka looked around for something in search of something similar to this name while
wandering down the shopping district, someone from behind her called out to her.

“Ah! Hey, wait a minute…! Could that lovely girl over there please chat with me?”

“Muu?”

Tohka turned around and spotted a man dressed in a gorgeous suit while sporting the flamboyant
hairstyle she’d ever seen.

Loop

“...This is a pain to deal with…”

Kotori twirled the chupa chup in her hand and groaned while frowning.

It had been three hours since the date started.

No matter how poorly he spoke or how much he confessed to unusual habits, Origami Tobiichi’s
favorability points haven’t dropped a single point… not only that, but occasionally, it seemed to
rise.

On the main display, she could see that they were busy ordering drinks at a cafe counter.
Origami’s expression hasn’t changed at all beyond the usual poker face she always sported.
Incidentally, she’d changed back into her usual outfit.

“Rgh… let’s try another approach…”

At that moment, new options appeared on screen.

① Knead her chest suddenly.

② Spit in her face.

③ Lift her skirt.

“If words won’t work, turn to action. Everyone, make your choice!”

Kotori’s display showed the results.

“The one that most people chose was—③.”

“...Hmm, if you do this kind of thing with a large audience, I guess it might reduce her
favorability a little bit?”

Kotori pulled the microphone toward her as she spoke.

“R-Really…”

Shidou swallowed when he heard Kotori’s instructions from the earpiece.

[“Less talking, more action. If we don’t resort to something like this, there’s no way we’re going
to be able to reduce her favorability.”]

“N-No...it’s not right…”

At that moment, Shidou was hit from behind by another guest who’d been walking behind him.
He’d lost his balance and fell forward.

“Whoa...!”

Although he tried his best to maintain his posture, there was nothing he could do. He landed on
his face. He was almost certain he’d bruised his nose.

“That hurt…”

[“Well! You did it, Shidou!”]

“Huh? What...?”

At that moment, Shidou noticed that one of his hands was holding the light and familiar piece of
fabric.

“...”

He suddenly had a bad feeling and slowly raised his head.

As a result, he saw Origami’s slender legs and cute designed undergarments as well as a holster
strapped to her right leg.

It seemed that Shidou had accidentally ripped off Origami’s skirt when he fell. Shidou’s face
suddenly burst out into a nervous sweat.

“L-Listen to, Origami, this is…”

However, Origami spoke with the same calm as always:

“Do you want to do it here?”

“...! You… What did you just say…!”

Shidou quickly fixed her skirt back into its original position.

Origami looked at Shidou with disappointment before looking back at the counter again.

[“...That didn’t work either?”]

He could hear Kotori’s increasingly frustrated voice in his ear.

“What… What are we supposed to do now?”

When Shidou finished, he figured it was useless thinking that nothing would work. As he put a
hand to his forehead and shook his head—He heard the sound of a beep coming from his right
ear.

[“—Eh, this really troublesome…”]

“W-What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

[“It’s got nothing to do with Origami. ...It’s Tohka. I’ve been watching Tohka as she’s been
shopping… It looks like a strange man is talking with her. I can’t tell if it’s a normal
conversation or a solicitation, but I have a bad feeling that this man will cause problems.”]

“Huh…”

Shidou frowned.

Because Tohka was not very familiar with this world, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t
be tricked into something safe by flowery rhetoric.

...But if Tohka got serious, there was no doubt that such a person would disappear with a flash.
But it would be awful if things were to escalate to that point.
“We have to… think of a way…”

[“I know. It would be fine to send some agency personnel to her location… but I don’t want her
to notice things related to <Ratatoskr>.”]

Kotori mumbled as she continued speaking:

[“—Shidou, I’ll connect your earpiece to Tohka’s phone. Can you stop her and warn her not to
do such dangerous things?”]

“M-Me?”

[“It would be quickest if Shidou tells her. Now please.”]

“Wait!”

Before Shidou could protest, Kotori’s voice was gone. Instead, he could hear the sound of a
phone ringing instead.

After a few seconds of waiting, he could hear Tohka’s voice on the other end.

[“Hello?—Are you saying hello? Who?”]

“Tohka? It’s me, Shidou.”

[“It’s Shidou! Wow! ...So we can really talk like this…!”]

Tohka spoke excitedly.

“Tohka, what are you doing right now?”

“Muu… A man I don’t know started talking to me. He is telling me that he wants me to work for
a high salary…”

“...”

Shidou’s cheeks twitched in silence.

[“It seems that I can earn a lot of money by doing a simple service. He gave me a beautiful paper
called a business. Can I go work there?”]

“N-No! Refuse him right away! Return that card back to him too!”

Shidou couldn’t help but shout.

[“Muu… is that so. Since Shidou said so, I’ll do it—Excuse me, mister, I will not do what you
just asked.]

“Whew…”

That was really dangerous. Shidou wiped the cold sweat trickling down from his forehead.

Then, at that moment, he spotted Origami standing in front of him with a tray holding two cups.

“Ah…”

“...”

Origami nodded without saying another word as she pushed her way through the crowd and
returned to the counter again.

“I-Is something wrong…?”

“I want to return this.”

“Huh? Uh—you want to return this food...?”

The clerk, forced by Origami’s intense pressure, wore a troubled expression.

Because Shidou was shouting loudly, Origami seemed to mistakenly think he’d been talking to
her. Shidou quickly called out to her.

“T-That’s not the problem!”

“...? Then is it alright?”

Origami turned his head and asked to confirm. Shidou nodded and answered her and said, “It’s
okay.”

However, at that moment—

[“What’s that? It doesn’t matter? —Hey, it seems like it’s okay. Give me that business card
back!” ]

Then he heard such such a voice in his right ear and Shidou frantically shouted:

“N-No! You have to refuse him right away!”

[“Muu… I understand.”]

Tohka answered obediently.

“I know.”

—However, after Shidou said that, even Origami nodded lightly, then slammed the tray on the
counter, and then pulled out a 9-mm pistol from the holster under her skirt (Shidou desperately
hoped that it was just a model gun) and pointed it at the clerk.

“Obviously, you have to accept this return…”

“Huh…? Ah… Huh?”

The clerk was blindsided and the other guests around them looked scared. Shidou quickly
intervened to avoid starting a panic.

“No… stop! Don’t do that kind of thing!”

[“Muu… Is that so?”]

Then he heard Tohka’s voice in his ear.

Shidou scratched his head and shouted loudly: “Ah Really! You two aren’t helping me out here!”

The time was 3:30 pm.

Tohka, who’d managed to buy everything on the list, decided to take a break on a park bench.

Because today was a day off, the shopping district was more lively than usual, but this park she’d
found across the street was quiet and comfortable which would be the best place to take a break.
Tohka finished off the beverage she’d bought with the pocket money Shidou gave her in one
gulp and let out a satisfied sigh.

Then her gaze fell to the shopping bag filled with groceries.

“Umu… Shidou will certainly praise me for this!”

Indeed, having completed her errand while also rejecting that man’s invitation at Shidou’s
request. Once he gets home, hopefully he would pat her on the head.

“Muu…”

At that moment, Tohka pulled out the list.

As far as the errand was concerned, there is one thing that she hadn’t bought yet.

That’s right, she just didn’t know what it was.

“Muu… what should I do…”

Tohka hugged herself and mumbled to herself as she thought about it. A few seconds later, she
suddenly realized something.

“Oh! For something like this…”

Tohka spoke loudly as she whipped out her phone.

That’s right, if there was something she didn’t know, she could just ask Shidou directly.

“Muu… Just now, Shidou called me, so I need to look for… call history?”

Tohka placed the phone on the bench, then carefully pressed the buttons with her index fingers
using both hands.

“Ugh…”

It was 3:30 in the afternoon. Shidou leaned back against the chair in the cafe.

Of course, they weren’t in the same cafe as before, but a different one instead.

After Origami pulled a gun on the cashier, Shidou quickly made a mad dash out of the shop with
Origami and walked down the street for a while—finally, they found this cafe.

[“...Since things have reached this point, we’ll have to rely on this last resort.”]

He could hear Kotori sigh in his ear.

“...The last resort?”

[“Yes. Can you get away from her for a bit?” ]

“...? Oh, sure…”

Shidou mumbled that he needed to go to the bathroom to Origami and stood up from his seat and
made his way to the bathroom.

“...So? What’s this last resort you said?”

Since they were already well away from other people, there was no need for them to be quiet.
Shidou asked Kotori normally.

[“I think you’ve probably already realized this… But it’s almost impossible to reduce her
favorability. What a terrible monster, I really want to see what’s going on in her brain.”]

“...S-So that’s your impression.”

[“—So, try changing the approach once and see what happens. Simply just do what you’d
normally do.”]

“You mean…?”

[“Shidou, you really have to become Origami’s lover.”]

“E-Eh?”

Shidou couldn’t help but shout.

[“Just listen to the whole suggestion through to the end. Which is to say, you break up with her
after having dated her. Tell her: “I want to break up with you. I don’t like you anymore.” Like
that.”]

“A-Ah…”

Shidou’s cheeks were drenched in sweat as he moaned quietly.

He took a quick sip of water to moisten his throat and to deal with tension.

—However, after all, he still had to deal with this.

Although it was because of Kotori’s instructions to start, there was no denying that it was
Shidou’s fault that Origami believed that they were dating.

But forcing Origami to hate him was too selfish.

Shidou liked Origami—he thought that she was a good friend and someone he respected from
the bottom of his heart.

But—no, that’s why.

He felt that it was disrespectful to Origami to continue this relationship with an ambiguous state.

“...I know. That’s why it’s called breaking up, right?”

Shidou took a deep breath to calm himself down and then slapped his cheeks several times.

...However, he could hear his heart thumping, his fingers trembling, and he could feel even more
sweat on his face.

[“Just relax… Though I know it’s useless even if I say that. At least, at the critical moment, don’t
mess up.”]

“Ah… yeah… it’s just that… it’s probably for the best.”
[“Are you going to screw it up right now?”]

“Hmm…”

Shidou scratched his head uncertainly and coughed to clear his throat.

[“Really… it was for the best to keep you away from her. Practice what you want to say now
before you return to your seat.”]

“O-Okay…”

“—I want to break up. I… I don’t like you anymore. I want to break up. I… I don’t like you
anymore.”

[“What are you talking about… Are you serious?”]

[“—Yes, I want to end our relationship.”]

[“T-This kind of thing, I don’t want it!”]

[“Please forgive me. I no longer have feelings for you...”]

[“You… Do you hate me…?”]

“Yes, I hate you.”

Then—

Shidou suddenly felt that something was off and tilted his head in confusion.

Why did he have the feeling that he was responding to someone very smoothly?

“Shi…do…”

At that moment, Shidou finally realized that the sound from his right ear was definitely not
Kotori.

There was no way he could mistake that familiar voice—it was Tohka!

[“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”]

“F-For goodness sake...what happened to Tohka…!”

It seemed that as Tohka was crying, Kotori’s voice suddenly cut in:

[“—You idiot! Why didn’t you disconnect the line first!?”]

[“S-Sorry…!”]

He could hear the voice of one of the male crew members aboard the <Fraxinus>.

However, before Shidou could figure out what had happened, a loud explosion could be heard in
the distance and the building began to shake. THe walls creaked loudly and pieces of building
material fell from the ceiling.

“What…! T-This is—!”

For one wild moment, he thought it was an earthquake, but… it wasn’t that…

The shock was like a bomb exploding somewhere.

[“It’s Tohka! It looks like her mental state was drastically decreased! Her Spirit powers are
flowing back into her at an incredible rate!”]

“W-What did you say!”

[“Umm… it’s our fault. Because I forgot to close the line connecting you to Tohka, the moment
Tohka called you, he was talking to her again!]

As Kotori finished explaining loudly, there was a startling noise outside the shop.

He could hear screams everywhere coupled with the frantic footsteps of people running all over
the place without knowing where to go.

“Then...W-What should I do!?”

[“The only thing that can be done now is to reassure Tohka! Tell her that you hadn’t meant any
of what you just said!”]

“R-Right...!”

Shidou quickly put his hand on the earpiece and shouted:

“Tohka! Can you hear me! Tohka!”

However, she didn’t seem to hear him or respond. There was another explosion and the store’s
walls began to shake again.

[“I-It’s no good! Shidou, you have to find Tohka immediately!”]

“But Origami…”
[“There’s no point worrying about her right now! Get moving! She’s at the park across the street
from the shopping district!”]

“I-I got it…!”

Shidou clenched his fists as he rushed out of the cafe.

It seemed that the streets were disturbed by the sudden event. He could hear screams and other
such loud noises all around him and the pedestrians all seemed to be running in the same
direction.

Almost immediately, Shidou understood the reason why: because the direction where the park
was located, he could see smoke rising continuously.

“Is...Is that…!”

Things were worse than he’d expected. In order to avoid the crowds, Shidou rushed toward his
destination as fast as he could via the alleyways.

Fortunately, the cafe where he and Origami were was not far from the park where Tohka had
been taking a break.

...But considering the danger of running into Tohka by pure chance during their date, it wouldn’t
have been very lucky.

“...!

—At that moment, Shidou felt his phone still in his pocket vibrating.

It could probably be from Tohka. He didn’t slow down as he pulled his phone out of his pocket
to answer it.

However, instead of Tohka, it was Origami on the other end of the call.

[“—Shidou, where are you?”]

‘Origami. I’m sorry. Just give me a little bit of time—”

Before he could finish speaking, he heard another explosion and ruble fell just in front of Shidou.

“Whoa…”

Shidou just barely managed to dodge the rubble and continued to run.

He mentally apologized to Origami for what he’d done but now was not the time to talk. He
tossed the phone back into his pocket and picked up his running pace.
Then—

“Wha…”

Shidou finally reached the park and stared with wide eyes.

In a corner of the large park, there was a large hole as though the result of a crater caused by a
meteor.

It looked just like the spatial-quakes caused by the Spirits when they appeared in this world.

He could make out the figure of a girl squatting on the ground and her shoulders trembling from
time to time.

“T-Tohka…!”

Shidou shouted as he ran forward, stumbling across the uneven ground.

At that moment, Tohka finally noticed Shidou’s presence. Her shoulders shook as she faced him
timidly.

“S-Shidou…”

She called out his name, her face wet with tears.

“...!”

Shidou felt his throat squeeze tightly, making almost impossible to breath but nonetheless, he
still shouted:

“W-What I said before, I didn’t mean any of it!”

“Huh…?”

After hearing what Shidou said, Tohka’s expression turned to one of stunned surprise.

Then her gaze turned contemplative for a moment as she wiped her tears with her sleeve before
facing Shidou again.

“R-R-Really?”

Then she gazed carefully into Shidou’s face as he replied.

“Yes… that’s right.”

“Y-You don’t hate me…?”

“W-What? Of course I don’t hate you! How could I ever hate you?!”

“R-Really! Then… so, we can still be together?”

“O-Of course!”

“Can we be together forever?”

“Ah… Yes, we’ll always be together!”

Although it was a little sloppy, he still promised her. But first things first, he had to help her calm
down. Shidou nodded while responding as loudly as he could.

Tohka sniffled as she stood up.

“R-Really…? U-Umu, that’s what I thought!”

Tohka seemed to be genuinely relieved from the bottom of her heart and showed the shopping
that’d fallen aside (and for some reason was unharmed despite all the damage) to Shidou.

“M-Muu…? I managed to do all of the shopping!”

“O-Oh! That’s amazing, Tohka!”

“Hee hee hee!”

After Shidou finished speaking, Tohka smiled proudly.

But at that moment, he could hear Kotori’s voice in his ear once more:

[“Whew… Good job—Although, I really wish I could say that, you should probably get out of
there first.”]

“Huh…?”

After hearing what Kotori said, Shidou frowned… However, he immediately understood what
she’d meant.

He could hear the sound of fire trucks and patrol cars nearby. If they stayed in that area, things
would only become more troublesome.

“T-Tohka, let’s get out of here!”

“Muu…? Oh, I understand.”

After Shidou finished speaking, Tohka nodded obediently.

“Whew…”

Long story short, it seemed that they managed to avert a full-blown crisis.

Shidou left the park with Tohka and was finally relieved.

“What happened? Why are we going so fast?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

Shidou explained while chuckling weakly to an uncertain Tohka.

But a few seconds later, Shidou froze in place once again.

The reason why was obvious. He didn’t know when Tobiichi Origami appeared before Shidou

“...”

“...! O-Origami…?”

“Muu…”

Shidou could feel his whole body tremble at the sight of her while Tohka crossed herself
unhappily. This was hardly a surprise considering that Tohka and Origami hated each other.

However, it seemed that Origami was doing her best not to let her disgust for Tohka show on her
face.

Actually, it was more accurate to say that she only had eyes for Shidou. While her expression
remained the same, her gaze bellied her undying passion that he’d never seen before.

“O-Origami…? Is there something wrong?”

Although Shidou said this, he suddenly had a bad feeling much like the one he’d had before
spread through his body.

Almost immediately, it seemed that his suspicions had been confirmed: he watched Origami
move forward without so much as a change in her expression and reached out to embrace Shidou
tightly.

“W-What do you think you’re doing!”

Tohka rushed forward to break Origami’s grip.

However, as Tohka tried harder to break Origami’s grip on Shidou, Origami’s embrace only
tightened.
Then she spoke quietly:

“—Together forever…”

“W-What…!”

It seemed that Origami heard what Shidou said as he frowned.

“Hey… let go of him! He said that to me! The person he’s going to be together with forever is
me!”

“—That’s not possible. He clearly said that to me.”

Tohka finally managed to get Origami to let go of Shidou as they continued to bicker.

Then, Shidou had another bad feeling as he pulled his phone which he’d carelessly thrown in his
pocket in his rush to get back to Tohka.

He glanced down at the screen… and immediately realized that he was still talking to Origami. It
seemed that he’d never hung up when Origami called him.
Yoshino Fireworks

On a night in summer, Shidou Itsuka was in the kitchen preparing dinner as usual.

“Shidou, what’s for dinner tonight?”

A girl’s voice sounded out from the living room. Turning to look in that direction, he found the
girl whose long hair was as dark as night as well as crystal-like eyes—Tohka was currently lying
on top of a yoga ball and looking towards the kitchen. Although she lives in the apartment next
door, she would occasionally enter the Itsuka residence to join them for lunch .

“Nn, it’s slightly hot today. I’ll make cold soba then.”

“Oooh!”

When Shidou just finished his sentence, Tohka’s eyes started to sparkle. After putting all of her
weight onto the yoga ball, she made use of its rebound to stand up.

“Are there any pink colored noodles in there?”

“There are, and there are green ones too.”

“Wh-what did you say...”

Tohka showed an expression as though she was a clergy who had received a message from the
heavens, her two hands trembled. What an emotional person. Shidou gave a bitter smile as he
continued.

“So, can you go and tidy up the table for me first?”

“Nn, nn! Leave it to me!”

Tohka enthusiastically replied, after that she hastily cleared the newspapers and magazines that
covered the table. It looks like she had discovered something in the midst of cleaning up

“Nn?”

making such a curious sound, her hand stopped as well.

“Hm? What’s the matter?”

“Umm, Shidou, what is this?”

Saying that, she opened up a flyer. Printed on it was a picture of massive fireworks and related
information of a fireworks festival being held nearby.
“It’s a fireworks festival. So the time has come for this huh.”

“Fireworks?”

Tohka widened her eyes and tilted her head to one side. The same time as Tohka made that
posture, the door to the living room opened suddenly, following that a petite figure walked in.
Since the only one that would enter without pressing the doorbell, other than Tohka and his
parents who are overseas working, was his little sister Kotori. Shidou spoke while rhythmically
chopping the onions.

“So you are finally back. Dinner is about to be ready so you should hurry up and change—”

Shidou stopped speaking after he turned around. The girl who had walked into the room was
different from whom Shidou had expected. She seemed to be just over ten years old. A light
colored one piece dress clothed her snow white skin, she hid her blue hair using the wide brim of
a sun hat. An oddly designed rabbit puppet was worn on her hand.

“Yoshino?”

After Shidou called out her name, Yoshino revealed her sapphire-like eyes from below her hat, as
though trying to affirm Shidou’s presence. Those were a pair of beautiful eyes that a human
couldn’t possibly have. That’s right. She—along with Tohka, strictly speaking, are not humans.
They are lifeforms known as “Spirits” that are specially designated calamities. Even so, their
powers are currently being sealed via methods, as a result they are not that dangerous anymore.
In truth, Yoshino who is under <Ratatoskr>’s protection, is currently living on board the living
quarters of the airship, learning the necessary information for her to successfully integrate into
human society.

“Go-good evening... Shidou-san, Tohka-san.”

“Aha— long time no see Shidou-kun. How have you been doing? Have you constantly spent
sleepless nights by yourself thinking about Yoshino?”

After Yoshino respectfully lowered her head, the puppet that was worn on her left
hand—[Yoshinon] opened its mouth and gave out a cheerful voice. Due to the difference in their
tone and personalities, Shidou couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Although it looks like
ventriloquism... but strictly speaking that was not the case. [Yoshinon] is a second personality
that resides within Yoshino, what it says however is not controlled by Yoshino’s will. Truth is, at
present, Yoshino too was covering [Yoshinon]’s mouth who had just uttered those words with a
reddened face.

“I’m... I’m sorry...”

“Mm—! Mm—!”

Yoshino felt apologetic as she lowered her head once more, [Yoshinon] on the other hand was
struggling to break free. It was adorable to see them like that, Shidou couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s alright... Do you need something, Yoshino?”

Shidou questioned, Yoshino on the other hand jumped slightly.

“A-about... that is...”

Yoshino seemed to be hesitant in speaking out, letting her eyes wander around, however she
seemed to have come to a conclusion as she parted her lips.

“Y-you are still a... coward I see, Shidou... You should be feeling honored instead... Look at you,
such a penniless, classless, useless nerd... I will grant you... your reason for existing. Tomorrow
night... take me... to the fireworks festival. Su, such a task... even a flea like you who has evolved
to a level nearing that of humanity... should be able to accomplish it right...?”

Yoshino stuttered, saying words that she’d normally never say.

“Wh... wh-what’s the matter, Yoshino?”

Tohka frowned in confusion as well, drops of sweat trickled down her cheek. However Shidou
made a different reaction. After the side of his face twitched, he slowly raised his head.

“...Hey, you rascal.”

“...! So, sorry, sorry, sorry...! B, but...”

Yoshino bowed her head to indicate her apology from the bottom of her heart. But Shidou was
not blaming Yoshino at all. He only threw a sharp glance behind her—glaring at the door that
Yoshino had opened before. As expected, Kotori who was shaking from trying to control her
laughter was standing there observing the turn of events.

“Kotori! What are you trying to add into the oasis in my heart!”

“...So you are trying to say that you want to go see the fireworks festival?”

After getting Kotori out from peeping behind the door, Shidou spoke while sighing. He was told
that Yoshino wanted to see the Fireworks that she read in books with her own eyes very much.

—She wanted to take the chance and use her Dating Right with Shidou, consulting Kotori about
the matter.
“That’s right. I remember that there’s a fireworks festival at Tenbagawa tomorrow? You should
bring her there.”

The girl whose long hair was tied up using black ribbons—Kotori spoke while sitting on the sofa
with a haughty attitude. Explaining the so called “Dating Right”, it is referring to the right of
possessing Shidou for an entire day, Yoshino obtained it from a certain competition. Of course
Shidou’s protests were left unheeded... But more importantly it was because the situation could
potentially escalate if the right was handed to anyone other than Yoshino from his protests, so
there was no other choice other than to silently agree.

“If that was the case then can’t you just let her say it out normally. What were you trying to make
Yoshino do?”

“Well, if we didn’t put it like that, it would be useless against Shidou who is as dense as a block
of wood... So what is your reply?”

“I’m not really against it or anything...”

Shidou glanced at Tohka who was sitting by the side. Since she was the person that was most
interested in this activity. After hearing Kotori talk about the fireworks festival, her cheeks
faintly blushed, the two balled up fists were trembling as well. ... In other words, she was
controlling herself.

“Ha...!”

At that moment, it seems like she noticed Shidou’s stare, Tohka’s shoulders gave a jolt.

“Is-isn’t that gr-great? Such a rare chance... The two of you should enjoy yourselves to the
fullest.”

Although Tohka said that. Tears could clearly be seen from the corner of her eyes, it was obvious
that she was forcing herself. Sweat formed on Shidou’s face, turning to look at Yoshino. Yoshino
too was making a similar expression as well.

“Umm... Tohka-san, if you are willing... do you want to come with us?”

“! Re-really?!” After Yoshino said that, Tohka couldn’t help but stand up—but she quickly shook
her head forcefully as though trying to persuade herself.

“No... I can’t. This date belongs to the winner Yoshino. If I were to join you, then it wouldn’t be
right.”

Tohka twirled her fingers as she spoke. Looking at her miserable state, Kotori couldn’t help but
shrug.
“Alright alright, we’ll let Reine bring Tohka there. There’s no problem as long as you two move
separately right?”

As Kotori finished speaking, Tohka’s expression brightened in an instant.

“! Uu... Well, if you all want me to go that badly, then I guess there’s no helping it!”

Looking at Tohka, Shidou and Yoshino looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

The next day, Shidou waited for Yoshino near the statue whose form is still up to one’s
imagination to find out at the nearest station from the fireworks festival. The time as of now was
not 6pm yet. There’s still about an hour till the fireworks festival starts, however the figures of
tourists have already filled the exterior of the station. Among them were tourists with the
intention of touring the game stations, there were a number of people carrying packages of
takoyaki or yo-yo balls who entered the station.

“Although I’ve already expected this... there sure are a lot of people here.”

“What are you still hanging around for? We’ve just sent Yoshino over, she should be heading
there soon, the two of you better meet up successfully okay?”

As though replying to Shidou’s monologue, Kotori’s voice sounded into his right ear. Although
Yoshino’s mental state has stabilized, he still put on the earphone on <Ratatoskr>’s request just
in case.

“—According to the rules, we will not be giving you any instructions today, but there are
<Ratatoskr>’s crew members on site as well. So feel free to ask if anything comes up.”

“I understand.”

“Well then, we’ll leave Yoshino to you.”

Saying that, the conversation with Kotori ended. After affirming this fact, Shidou started to look
around in order to search for Yoshino. And then.

“I’ve, I’ve made you... wait.” “Ooh—, we’ve made you wait Shidou-kun.”

A familiar voice sounded out from somewhere near him, Shidou turned his gaze downwards.

“...!”

Shidou involuntarily widened his eyes due to seeing a scene that had totally exceeded his
expectations. Yoshino was not wearing the usual one piece dress, but a pale blue kimono. She did
not wear her sunhat as well, in its place she used hair clasps to hold her beautiful hair in place.
All of that complemented Yoshino’s doll-like features, exuding an incomparable beauty. Shidou
was instantly rendered speechless, staring at her figure.

“Shidou... san?”

“! Ah, sorry about that.”

Brought back to reality after hearing Yoshino’s hesitant voice, he looked around as an excuse for
his behavior just now. However Yoshinon who has the same hair clasps as Yoshino started to
snicker.

“Ayaya—? Don’t tell me you were in a trance over Yoshino’s kimono? Ah—, isn’t that great
Yoshino. It wasn’t a waste in getting Reine to help out.”

“Gu...”

“Yo-Yoshinon...! You, you shouldn’t say such things. Shidou-san, wo-wouldn’t...”

Yoshino hastily held Yoshinon’s mouth, turning to look at Shidou.

“Well... I do think that you are beautiful.”

Yoshino’s face instantly flushed red.

“Th-that, that is...”

Probably not expecting to really be praised by Shidou, Yoshino waved her right hand about in a
panic, making attempts of hiding her own expression with the brim of her hat. However what
Yoshino has on her head at present was not the sunhat but hair clips shaped like flowers.

Yoshino used her hand to cover her face before removing them and repeated the process a few
times, before lowering her head in confusion as to what expression she should make. The two of
them silently faced each other with reddened faces, and although it was the perfect moment to
interrupt, Yoshinon chose to just stay there with a sly grin.

“We, we, we, well then... let’s not just stand here, shall we go?”

“!Y-yes...! Then I’ll be in... your care.”

After Shidou spoke, Yoshino respectfully bowed her head showing an extremely panicked
expression.

“Nn, let’s walk this way.”

Saying that, he started to walk in the direction of the river, however Yoshinon’s voice called out
to him.

“Oi oi Shidou-kun. There’s so many people here and you’re just going to walk along ahead?”

“Eh?”

After turning around to look, he finally realized what was going on. Not only was the current
Yoshino wearing a kimono, she was also wearing clogs that she was not used to wearing.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Since we still have time, let’s walk over slowly.”

“Tsk tsk tsk. That’s not the problem Shidou-kun.”

“Eh?”

“Hurry up, Yoshino.”

Saying that, Yoshinon lightly hugged Yoshino’s reddened cheeks. Yoshino grit her teeth as she
still had a look of panic on her face, making a sound after her determination was set.

“U, um, Shidou-san.”

“What is it?”

“I... Today, I used the right to date... with Shidou-san.”

“Nn, that’s right.”

“So... Today is, the.. the date that I have with Shidou-san...”

“Well, that is the case.”

“That, so, about that... it’s okay if you refuse... if you don’t want to.”

Yoshino timidly extended her right hand.

“Ca-can... you please hold my hand?”

Saying that, she looked at Shidou’s face. It seems that Yoshino had made an extremely large
resolution when she said that, the corner of her eyes were slightly wet, her lips were trembling as
well.

“Oh. Of course we can.”

Shidou who was moved for a moment, after putting on a calm, nonchalant expression, he took
Yoshino’s small hand. Possibly frightened by the sudden touch, Yoshino’s shoulders gave a jolt.

“! I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

“N-no... I’m alright.”

“I-is that so. Well then—let’s go.”

“Alright...”

Yoshino hid her stunned expression as she deeply nodded her head. On the other hand, Yoshino
was saying,

“You did great. That’s a good girl.” As it stroked her head. Although it wasn’t the first time he
has held a girl’s hand... But he was feeling exceptionally nervous for some reason. At that
moment—

“...?!”

Suddenly feeling that they were being watched from somewhere, Shidou turned his head and
looked at his surroundings.

“Shidou-san...? Is... something wrong?”

“Nothing... I think I was just being paranoid.”

It could be due to the fact that he was holding hands with such a beautiful girl, he had drawn the
jealous gaze of a passer-by. After taking a deep breath, Shidou gently held the fingers that felt as
though they would break under the slightest pressure, slowly moving forward.

After following the flow of the crowd for fifteen minutes, they could see the various lights of the
stalls on both sides of the path. Yakisoba, takoyaki, cotton candy and various food stuff that one
would usually find at the stalls aside, there were stalls displaying water balloons, goldfish
scooping, shooting galleries, mini-sized sculptures and prizes from lotteries. Although there
wasn’t much difference between the stalls, business was booming.

“Waah...”

Yoshino widened her eyes, exclaiming in wonder.

“It’s really... amazing.” “It sure is rowdy here—.Then again, what is this place for? Can we buy
fireworks here? And can we light one and let it go?”
Yoshinon tilted its head in confusion, Shidou on the other hand could only smile wryly in
response. If everyone here lit a large firework on their own, that would definitely be an amazing
scene.

“That’s not correct, they’re going to light the fireworks on the other side of the river. They only
sell food and toys here.” “Eh? What’s that got to do with a fireworks festival?”

“Uuh... I, I don’t know myself...” “Hn—. Looks like there seems to be some difficult
philosophical question of life hidden within all this—”

Yoshinon seemed to have understood something as it kept nodding with folded arms. Shidou’s
face showed a cramped smile, turning to look at Yoshino.

“Is this Yoshino’s first time seeing these stalls as well?”

After Shidou inquired, Yoshino nodded her head rather excitedly.

“I’ve seen them in books before... but this is the first time that I saw the real thing.”

“Is that so.”

She had such a happy expression on her face, it was worth bringing her to watch the festival after
all. Shidou smiled as he checked the time on his handphone.

“There’s still some time till they let off the fireworks, let’s walk around.”

“! Can... I?”

“Of course, this is also part of the fireworks festival. Do you have anything you’d like to eat or
have? Let me treat you.”

“Th-then I’ll...”

Yoshino looked around, frantically glancing at the stalls around her.

“Ahaha... I’m sorry. Let’s just look and see first. ”

“Ah, al-alright. I’m really sorry...”

Yoshino nodded her head, tightly holding onto Shidou’s hand. Weaving through the crowd,
Yoshino suddenly stopped.

“Nn? What’s the matter Yoshino?”

“Shidou-san... What is that?”

Saying that, he turned to the left. ‘...” And then, Shidou froze wordlessly in place. In that
direction a shooting gallery was located. There were ten guns that fired corks displayed, inside
the gallery there were several targets placed there. There would not be a problem if that was the
only thing they saw. It’s a shooting gallery that is not much different from the others. However
that would only be the case if the shooting target was not a half naked man wearing a mask that
looked eerily familiar.

“Aaah... Hurry! Someone hurry up and shoot me!”

“Keep your mouth shut Kannazuki. It’s your disgusting fault that everyone is keeping away from
here. If you really want someone to blast you to pieces that much then shut your mouth and wait
there. Or don’t tell me you are unable to accomplish that? It seems that replacing you with a doll
as a target would be the better choice huh?”

The owner of the stall sternly chided. Isn’t the owner a little too young to be manning a stall...
Upon a closer look, isn’t that just Kotori in a disguise?

“Ku-Kuuuuu, but this is really making me impatient...!”

The man let out a frustrated sound while still tied onto the rack. ... No matter how you look at it,
he was <Ratatoskr>’s vice-commander as well as the vice- captain of the aircraft vessel
<Fraxinus>—Kyohei Kannazuki. The surrounding people kept their distance, every stall was
doing well except for this one. Shidou grabbed his head. Although he had already heard that
someone from the organisation had already infiltrated, however…

“Why is it like this?!”

“...?!”

Frightened by Shidou’s sudden cry, Yoshino jumped for an instant.

“Ah, so, sorry about that.”

“It’s nothing... , but, that... Shidou-san, what is that?”

“Yoshino, let’s go to another stall.”

“Eh, but...”

Shidou forced Yoshino to leave with him without saying another word. It wasn’t just because he
did not want to let Yoshino continue watching that scene... but it would be disastrous if Yoshino
were to be tainted from their bad influence. At that moment, Yoshino seemed to have discovered
another object that had caught her curiosity. She stopped walking and asked Shidou.
“Um, then, Shidou-san, what is... that?”

“Hm?”

What Yoshino had seen, was the stall that sold crushed ice. Countless glittering ice fragments
flew out of the massive machine.

“It’s beautiful...”

“Yeah, that’s crushed ice. A block of ice is shaved into small pieces before eating with syrup
added to it.”

“Is it, food?”

Yoshino widened her eyes with surprise. Ahh, if one were to look at it without prior knowledge,
it would be simply too beautiful to call crushed ice food.

“That’s right, it’s good. Would you like to try it?”

“...!”

After Shidou asked, Yoshino nodded her head in agreement.

“Then... what flavor would you like?”

Shidou held Yoshino’s hand and walked to the store, asking her that question after looking at the
board which had strawberry, melon and more flavours stated on it.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“Eh? Then, I’ll get a...”

The same time Shidou looked at the menu, he looked at the person manning the stall. ... Speaking
of which, he seemed to have seen this man onboard <Fraxinus>, in the end Shidou chose to
ignore such issues. For all he knew, most of the stalls in the festival could be manned by the staff
members of <Ratatoskr>. An overprotective and extravagant support mission as usual.

“Excuse me, one Blue Hawaii please.”

“Coming right up!”

The man used practiced movements to make a big mountain of ice in a cup, handing it over after
colouring it with a layer of blue syrup. Shidou did not order Blue Hawaii because it was
recommended (it was more like, even Shidou himself had no clue what exactly was this flavour),
he only thought that the sparkling blue colour suited Yoshino extremely well. Shidou took the
cup after paying, passing it over to Yoshino.

“This is for you”

“Th-thank you very much...”

Yoshino asked [Yoshinon] to help hold the cup, using a plastic spoon to scoop the blue ice, after
scrutinizing it for a while, she placed it into her mouth.

“—!!”

Her eyes widened in surprise, after looking left and right she looked up into Shidou’s face,
patting his body with an excited expression. However her shoulders quickly gave a jolt, showing
an expression that was full of apology.

“I’m, sorry, I’ve been a little...”

“Haha, did you like it?”

As Shidou asked, Yoshino vigorously nodded her head.

“It was cold, and sweet at the same time... But it was different from ice cream... amazing. This is
a revolutionary taste...”

Saying that, Yoshino proceeded to eat the crushed ice with big scoops.

“Ah, hold on. If you eat it too quickly...”

“...Nn.”

Too late. Yoshino had a bitter expression on her face as she rubbed her forehead.

“There’s a sharp pain in my head...”

“Eating chilled food too quickly will cause that. It’s called brain freeze.”

“This headache has such a delicious name...”

Yoshino squeezed out her words while tightly closing her eyes. At the same time a sharp voice
sounded out from within the crowd.

“—Oooh! Reine, I want to eat that next! What is that?!”

“...Regrettably, goldfish can’t be eaten.”

“Hm, is that so? I thought they were to be eaten raw too...”

Voices that they have heard before. Shidou, Yoshino as well as [Yoshinon] turned their heads at
the same time.

“Eh, that was...”

“Tohka... san?”

[Seems like it—] That’s right. Standing right there was Tohka in a kimono along with Reine who
was taking her out to play while in a kimono as well. On a side note, Tohka’s right hand was
holding a massive stick of cotton candy, in between the fingers on her left hand were toffee
apple, chocolate banana, dried squid and more foodstuff.

Furthermore both her wrists were wearing glowing bracelets and the side of her head had a
hero’s mask. One could say that it was a look that fully showed that she was enjoying this
festival. Tohka’s kimono was on par with Yoshino... However due to her playful appearance,
Shidou couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hey—, Tohka—”

Shidou called out Tohka’s name, Tohka on the other hand raised her eyebrows in surprise as she
looked at Shidou and company.

“Hm? Ohh... If it isn’t Shidou and Yoshino... huh—”

Tohka who was about to wave to them, suddenly jolted, swiftly hiding herself behind Reine’s
back.

“...? Wh-what’s wrong with her...”

“Hm—, I think Tohka-chan does not want to let Shidou-kun see her in her current appearance?]”

“Gh... Who knows.”

It doesn’t seem like Tohka would be the kind of person who would care about such details.
Shidou tilted his head in confusion, leading Yoshino over to Reine.

“Good evening, Reine-san. What’s the matter with Tohka?”

“...About her huh,”

Reine shifted her body slightly, exposing Tohka who was hiding behind her. Tohka’s shoulders
jolted as she panicked, eating the cotton candy in her hand in a single bite, she used her free right
hand to put the mask on.
“What are you doing, Tohka...”

“Ha, hahahaha! Tohka? Who’s that? My name is Daizu Anpanman! I’m a superhero that gives all
starving children in the world delicious soy bread to eat!”

What a confusing hero character indeed. Reine stroked Tohka’s head as she spoke.

“...Well, I think she probably wants to avoid interrupting your date in her own way.”

“Ahh... So that’s how it is.”

Shidou and Yoshino looked at each other for a while, lightly nodding their heads. Although
Shidou and Yoshino did not mind, they couldn’t very well let Tohka’s good intentions go to
waste.

“I see, then we’ll make a move first. —We’ll leave the peace of the earth to you then.”

“Ah, Shidou...”

Just as Shidou was about to leave, Tohka made a sound as though she did not want him to leave.

“Hm?”

“! I, it’s nothing! Leave it to me!”

“Haa... I was almost seen through. Luckily I bought a mask just now.”

Tohka placed her hero’s mask to one side, letting out a relieved breath. It was really dangerous
just now. If Tohka didn’t have a sudden stroke of inspiration, she would have interrupted Shidou
and Yoshino’s date. Although Tohka wanted a date with Shidou very much, watching fireworks
together. However, she felt that she would like to wish Yoshino who had splendidly beat Tohka
and Origami .

In addition, Tohka knew full well of the pain brought about when someone barges into
someone’s date. That’s why she had made her decision; she would definitely not interrupt the
date between Shidou and Yoshino today.

“...Hmm?”

Just at this moment, Tohka suddenly frowned. The reason for that was simple. That’s because a
girl that she was acquainted with had appeared in the crowd. Using a pale purple sash to fix her
white kimono, she was a girl with a slender figure. With hair that barely touched her shoulders,
she had a face that was devoid of emotion. Isn’t that—

“Tobiichi Origami...? W-why is she here?”

That’s right. Tobiichi Origami was Tohka’s and Shidou’s classmate as well as Tohka’s natural
enemy. Tohka narrowed her eyes in suspicion, noting that Origami was looking at the backs of
Shidou and Yoshino, increasing her pace as she intended to follow after them.

“! You, stop right there!” Tohka cried out, using her right hand to grab Origami’s shoulder. If
Tohka were to let Origami do as she likes, the date would definitely be ruined.

“..., Tohka Yatogami. Why are you here.”

Origami turned around, glaring at Tohka unhappily.

“That’s my line! What are you trying to do!”

“That’s none of your business. Let go of me.”

“I’m not letting go of you! I’ll not let you ruin their date!”

Tohka yelled out, Origami’s eyebrow twitched.

“A date. So it was a date?”

“Yeah. So you shouldn’t interrupt them. Since you know that now then you should—don’t ignore
me!”

Tohka noticed that her arm was pushed aside, she quickly ran in front of Origami.

“Move aside. I can’t bear to see Shidou fall into the evil clutches of a Spirit.”

“Clutches? Yoshino is a nice girl. How can you—”

“You know nothing. A girl like her is the most terrifying of them all. Behind that obedient face
of hers hides an extremely lewd nature. By acting innocent and weak, she triggers the male’s
urge to protect her; she would then devour him once she manages to trick him to her side. She’s a
woman that is as terrifying as those deep sea fish or rafflesia.”

“W-what nonsense are you saying? Yoshino would never do such things!”

“It’s useless trying to explain it to you. Move aside. If I were to let them escape into the
darkness, Shidou’s chastity would be in danger.”

Each time Origami tried to slip past Tohka’s side, she would be blocked by Tohka. The two of
them were locked in a stalemate just like that, glaring at each other just like that.

“...Ladies. What would you two say if I propose that you two settle this with a match?”

Reine’s voice sounded out from behind.

“Hm?”

“...Murasame-sensei?”

Origami frowned in suspicion. However Reine paid no heed, she slowly pointed towards the
stalls on the side. It looks like a shooting gallery. There was no sign of the owner anywhere, only
a notice with the words [I’ll be right back. Do use it as you like. Owner] was present.

“...You two will use 30 bullets each, the one who has the higher point wins. The loser obeys the
winner... How’s the rules? Is it clear enough?”

“Hm... Alright, I’ll take her on!”

It was easy to understand indeed, Tohka nodded her head in agreement.

“I don’t see the point at all. I don’t have time for this.”

However Origami did not seem to agree, she turned around and tried to leave. However Tohka
stood in her path once more.

“...You wish to get rid of this stalemate as soon as possible right? Tohka will obey you as long as
you win the match. —Or are you saying that, you don’t have the confidence to win against
Tohka?”

Reine provoked Origami. After hearing that, Origami narrowed her eyes.

“What’s this, and I was wondering why didn’t you accept the match, so that’s how it was.”

Tohka nodded her head with an understanding expression, Origami on the other hand walked
past Tohka, taking up the air rifle from the shooting gallery.

“Where’s the target?”

“Hm, why are you so full of energy now?”

Seeing Origami enter a battle state, Tohka ate the candy apple, chocolate banana and the squid
that was in her left hand in a single mouthful. ... The smell of squid mixed with the sweet taste
was not delicious at all. However she did not have the time to care about that. Leaving the trash
to Reine, Tohka stood beside Origami and raised her weapon.

“It’s alright as long as I use this huh? Well then, let’s star—”

However after looking at the target inside the stall, Tohka froze. For some reason there was a
half-nude male wearing a mask that was tied to the rack, several circles indicating targets were
drawn on his body. On a side note, the place that had the highest points was the 100 point on his
loincloth.

“T-this is...”

Cold sweat started to form on Tohka’s face, following that she noticed a petite figure within the
stall.

“Hm?”

Peering further inwards due to curiosity. In the end she discovered Kotori who was in a kimono
and hiding under a futon.

“Kotori...? What are you doing here?”

“! Aahh... Tohka. Um, I don’t really wish to see her right now...”

Saying that Kotori peeked at Origami who was currently aiming at the targets.

“Hm?”

Just as Tohka tilted her head in suspicion, Origami readied her rifle, calmly pressing down on the
trigger with practiced hands.

“—Aha?!”

The cork flew out of the barrel and hit the loincloth directly. The target let out a pained but
excited cry.

“...A 100 on the first try huh. —Hm, take something from the prizes worth 100 points then.”

“Can I really take it like that?”

“...Yeah, the owner of the stall and I go way back. I was asked to look after this stall just now.”

“Is that so.”

Saying that, Origami let out a sigh with a relaxed expression.

“Guu...”

Tohka frowned, returning to the stall after parting from Kotori. Imitating Origami, she readied
her rifle and pressed the trigger. After letting out a [Pon!] sound, the bullet hit the target’s chest.

“Aha!”
“...Hm, the right nipple is—20 points huh. The prize is a fireworks set for children.”

Saying that, Reine entered the stall and took out a flat squared box that looked totally different
from the [fireworks] that she had heard so much about. However, that was meaningless to Tohka
right now. At present, she was feeling extremely frustrated at herself for getting a lower score
than Origami Tobiichi.

“Uoh...”

Just as Tohka was grinding her teeth in frustration, the target let out another strange cry. It seems
that Origami has scored 100 points once more.

“How... How can I lose!”

Tohka readied her rifle once more, pressing the trigger after aiming The time was 1850 hours.
There was still light when they were at the station just now, but now it was completely dark. The
cool air, faint sounds of insects as well as the starry night sky that one would never be able to see
in the city, it could be said to be a wonderful place to be to watch fireworks.

There is still 10 more minutes till they start firing the fireworks. Shidou and Yoshino walked
around the stalls in order to find a good viewing spot, walking towards the river.

“Are, you alright, Yoshino?”

Shidou voiced out as he held Yoshino’s hand tightly. That’s right, that’s because the fireworks
were about to be set off, the human density present in the location significantly increased. This
situation is just like the huge sale in the new year or the morning rush hour.

“I’m, fi... ne”

[Aha, we-su-re-ar-e-be-ing-squ-ee-zed-here.]

Listening to Yoshino and [Yoshinon]’s voice, he followed the flow of the crowd to the wide
riverbank.

“Aha... it sure is crowded here.”

“T-that’s right...”

[Oh my—. It’s the first time since Kotori-chan placed me in the washing machine that I’m
feeling so messed up—]

Shidou lightly stretched as though he was looking up at the sky. Due to the clouds blocking the
moon, the sky was pitch black. It was an excellent day to set off the fireworks. He patted
Yoshino on the shoulder, pointing towards the riverbank.

“Look, they are going to set off the fireworks from there.”

“F-from over... there?” [Eh—, where—?]

Saying that, [Yoshinon] looked out.

“It’s right there. See, that—”

Saying that, Shidou suddenly felt a sense of dread. —At the sleeve of her kimono, Yoshino’s left
hand can be seen.

“Eh...?”

Shidou rubbed his eyes, looking at Yoshino once more. But that wasn’t his imagination.

“...? Is something the matter?”

[What’s wrong—.Ah, don’t tell me you want to go to the washroom? How could you
Shidou-kun, you should have went before that—]

Yoshino raised her head, following her movements, her left hand went up too. That’s right, the
place where [Yoshinon] was supposed to be, yet there was no sign of the puppet at all. Shidou
widened his eyes. It probably got squeezed off just now with the crowd.

That being said, [Yoshinon] is not really the puppet that was doing the talking but the second
personality within Yoshino. If Yoshino were to believe that she was still wearing the puppet,
would she realize that the puppet had fallen off? However Yoshino followed Shidou’s gaze
towards her own left hand—

“Ha...”

Yoshino started panicking, as though her throat had something stuck in it.

“...!...!”

Letting out a silent cry, she frantically looked around. However there was no sign of [Yoshinon]
anywhere. Yoshino’s face turned pale, tears started to form as she let out an expression of
despair. That’s correct, Yoshino was timid in nature as well as slightly anthrophobic, if she didn’t
have her best friend [Yoshinon] by her side, she would mentally break down from being overly
stressed out.

If a Spirit’s mental state were to be unstable— Suddenly, a warning sound went off inside
Shidou’s ear. Kotori’s voice followed soon after.
“Shidou? Yoshino’s mental state is becoming chaotic. What on earth is happening?!”

“Ah, aaah—Actually Yoshinon got—”

However there was no time for him to explain, Yoshino’s sobs entered his other ear.

“Uu, ah, ah...”

“H-hold on! Calm down, Yoshino!”

“Uwaaaa, aa, aaaaaah...!”

Shidou’s cries did nothing to solve the problem, huge tears flowed out of Yoshino’s eyes. And at
the same time. —The place where the fireworks festival was to be held, a massive downpour
started to fall.

“I’m very... sorry, Shidou-san...”

Inside the shrine near the river, Yoshino faintly voiced out dejectedly. Her neatly tied hair was
now drenched in rain, her soaked kimono tightly clung onto Yoshino’s skin. Her snow white skin
that could be vaguely seen through the kimono, made her seem extremely lascivious.

“You don’t have to mind it!”

[That’s right—, Yoshino didn’t do anything wrong. It’s Yoshinon’s fault for being too playful.
I’ve made you worry—, I’m really sorry.]

Saying that, the puppet on Yoshino’s left hand stroked Yoshino’s head. They were fortunate,
under the assistance of the staff members of <Ratatoskr>, they swiftly located [Yoshinon]. It fell
to the ground just now due to the movement of the crowd, there were still footprints on its face
but it’s a good thing in itself that no further damage was found.

However due to the rain just now, the fireworks festival had no choice to be suspended. Yoshino
was originally a Spirit that controlled water and chill. When her powers are present, as long as
she appears, there would be rainfall. Although, with her powers sealed, she is now able to live a
normal life—but so long as her mental state became unstable, the sealed powers would start to
go back to her.

The result... would be like this. Due to the fact that [Yoshinon] was successfully found, the rain
stopped, however it remains uncertain whether the fireworks would be set off. Yoshino felt
extremely guilty due to the trouble she had caused everyone, her shoulders sank.

“I’m really... sorry...”

“I’ve already said, you don’t have to mind.”

Despite saying that, Yoshino still lowered her head in guilt. At that moment, [Yoshino] clapped
its hands as though it just thought of something.

[Really now—. It’s all ruined thanks to Yoshino—. You saw everyone’s disappointed faces
right—.]

“Ah, auuuu...”

“Hey, you don’t have to—”

However [Yoshinon] ignored Shidou and continued.

[Yoshino—, Kotori-chan taught you before, right? What should bad kids do?]

“Eh...?”

[Kids who do bad things must—?]

“That... be, be spanked...”

[That’s right. Spanking will cause you to reflect, so that you won’t make the same mistake in
future—]

“Nn... nn.” After Yoshino replied, [Yoshinon] quickly turned its head. [So that’s how it is.
Shidou-kun, you will spank Yoshino!]

“Ha... Haa?!”

Shidou couldn’t help but shout, frantically waving his hands in protest.

“No no no. Even though people often say that, no one would do it in reality right?”

[Eh—. But Kotori-chan would often spank Kannazuki when he makes mistakes right? She uses a
whip too.]

That was easily imaginable. Shidou’s face twitched, he supported his forehead with his hands.

[That’s why. Yoshino is the same. If we were to let her off so easily, she would make the same
mistake over and over—. Is that okay with you—?]

“Well...”

Yoshino bit her lip, standing up and used her hands to support herself on a nearby pillar.
“I-I beg you. I... don’t want to let Yoshinon, and Shidou-san feel troubled... anymore.”

Yoshino said with a panicked face, raising her behind.

“E-even if you two are right...”

[We’re going to stay like this if Shidou doesn’t make a move—]

As Shidou was hesitating, [Yoshinon] smirked and spoke. Yoshino nodded her head as well as
though she had made her decision.

“Ugu...”

It has already led to this, Shidou now has no way to reject them. Shidou walked to Yoshino’s
back, raising his hand high.

[Ah—, wait a second.]

Just as Shidou was about to lightly... swing his hand down, [Yoshinon] stopped him. Shidou on
the other hand let out a sigh of relief. Looks like [Yoshinon] did not really wish for him to spank
her bottom, but it just wanted Yoshino to take the opportunity to be a bit more courageous.

However, Shidou quickly realized how naïve his thinking had been.

[You—can’t—. You have to spank her directly on her butt.]

Saying that, [Yoshinon] rolled up the corner of Yoshino’s kimono, showing her behind to him.
And for some reason Yoshino was not wearing any underwear underneath her kimono.

“Wh?!”

“...!”

Shidou glared in outrage, Yoshino on the other hand was trembling as though she had a seizure.

“W-why aren’t you wearing any underwear!”

“That’s because... R-Reine-san said... that kimonos were supposed to be worn like this...
Tohka-san too...”

“Tohka as well?!”

Despite Shidou’s yells, [Yoshino] did not pay attention at all, it started to make a rhythm by
clapping.

[Come on, let the first one fly!]

“Shidou... san. This position is embarrassing... so please hurry...”

“! Aaah... I don’t care anymore!”

Shidou apologized to the gods enshrined inside the shrine as he swung his hand down.

‘Pata!’

A clear sound echoed within the silent shrine.

“Kya...!”

[Another one!]

‘Pata!’

“Aah...!”

[The last one!]

‘Pata!’

“Aaah...!!”

After a total of three hits, Yoshino’s body trembled, she let out short rapid breaths. Although he
did not use much strength, due to her skin being pale, there was an obvious change in colour.

“A-are you alright, Yoshino...”

“Y-yes...”

Yoshino weakly replied Shidou, hastily rearranging her kimono.

“About that... I’m really... thankful. I-I will pay attention in the future,”

“Oh, um...”

A mysterious sense of guilt assaulted him, Shidou awkwardly replied while scratching his face.
Looks like Yoshino had reflected fully on this. ... Well, even if she didn’t get spanked, I guess
she would reflect on her mistake anyway.

However—if her feelings of disappointment have not yet disappeared... looks like it hasn’t. Her
face still showed signs of regret.
Just as Shidou was deep in thought, he suddenly let out a shout.

“Yoshino, Yoshinon. I’ll be back soon, can you wait for me here?”

“...? Alright, I understand...”

[Hm— Where are you going Shidou-kun? Ah, don’t tell me you are really going to the toilet this
time?]

“Well, I’ll leave it like that.”

Regarding [Yoshinon]’s question, Shidou waved his hand and replied, lightly jogging to the
location where all the stalls were at. Although there were still quite a number of people, but a
portion of the visitors left early due to the sudden downpour, the path became easier to walk.
Shidou looked left and right, looking for that specific item.

“Gah... so it isn’t here huh. Looks like I have to go to the nearby convenience store...”

Just as Shidou was scratching the back of his head.

“Hey you! That was definitely cheating! You got to play by the rules!”

“I did not cheat. The rules did not state that we can only use a single rifle. Furthermore my
current score is 10 times yours, there’s no need for me to cheat.”

“You, what did you say?!”

A familiar squabble came from the direction of the shooting gallery. Turning his head in that
direction, he discovered Tohka and Origami were shooting at each other with air rifles. On their
stomachs had targets on them.

Somehow, it was slightly different from what Shidou knew about a shooting gallery.

“Tohka... and Origami. What are you two doing?”

“Hm?”

“—Shidou.”

After Shidou spoke, Tohka and Origami turned to face him at the same time. Tohka hastily
attempted to use her mask to hide her face, but she quickly found out that Yoshino was not
beside Shidou, she tilted her head in wonder.

“Shidou? Where’s Yoshino?”

“Aaah... She had something to do.”

Shidou gave her a half-hearted response, moving his gaze elsewhere. He soon discovered the
small mountain of candies and toys piled up at Tohka and Origami’s feet.

“...What’s all this?”

“Hm? Aah, this. These are all prizes from the gallery. Wonderful isn’t it! There are no more
prizes, so we had to settle this with a frontal battle.”

“You only had a small part of the prize. Eighty percent of this belongs to me.”

“W-what are you saying?!”

Saying that, the two of them entered battle once more (that being said, but they had to refill their
ammunition each time they fired, so it was still considered peaceful).

Shidou showed a bitter smile as he witnessed the scene—but he noticed something amongst the
prizes that Tohka had won, he called out to her.

“Um, Tohka.”

“Nn? What is it?”

“I have a favour to ask of you...”

“What is the matter with him... Shidou-san.”

[Hm—, that’s true—. It should be because of that right? Because he saw Yoshino who was
drenched and couldn’t control his desires anymore? He didn’t have to go and settle it himself,
cause Yoshino here is already ready—.]

“Y-Yoshinon...”

Hearing [Yoshinon]’s voice, she raised her head to the sky. At this point, the pitch black night
sky entered her vision.

—If there were fireworks exploding across the sky right now, what a beautiful sight that would
be.

“I wanted to... watch fireworks together with Shidou-san...”

She looked to the stars and mumbled to herself. Footsteps came from in front of her as though
responding to her words.

“Hey, Yoshino.”

“! Shidou-san...”
Yoshino’s shoulders gave a small jolt, looking to her front.

“The words I said just now, did he hear them?”

she threw a questioning gaze to [Yoshinon], it shrugged its shoulders as though saying [Who
knows?].

“Sorry, I’ve kept you waiting.”

“It’s alright... but... where did you go?”

Yoshino asked in wonder, Shidou smiled as he raised the object in his hand.

“Look, at this.”

“Fireworks set... for children. —Fireworks?”

Yoshino widened her eyes. That’s right. The square box in Shidou’s hands did have those words
written.

“Wait a while.“

Saying that, Shidou opened the plastic box, taking out something similar to paper sticks, passing
one of them to Yoshino.

“This is...”

“Well, you’ll know soon enough. ... Gah, I remember that I did place it somewhere around...”

Shidou took out a lighter from his pocket, lighting up Yoshino’s paper stick.

“Eh...?”

Yoshino, who did not have a clue as to what Shidou was doing—quickly widened her eyes in
surprise. The end where Shidou lit the fire, started to shoot out golden fireworks with crackling
sounds. It was different from what Yoshino read in books, it was a small light. However they
were still fireworks nonetheless.

“It’s so pretty...”

[Oh—, it sure is—]

“I know right? This is known as incense-stick fireworks. Well... they are incomparable to the
ones in the sky though.”

Haha, Shidou said while laughing. Yoshino on the other hand vigorously shook her head.
“That’s... not true. This one is... beautiful.”

And then, from the front—in the direction from where Shidou had come from, footsteps could be
heard once more.

“Shidou! Yoshino!”

The owner of the footsteps belonged to Tohka. She even forgot to disguise herself as she hastily
ran over.

“Oh, Tohka. Thank you for your fireworks. Yoshino liked it very much.”

“That’s great. But, I got good news. It seems that they’re about to restart the firework
performance!”

“Eh...?”

Just as Yoshino voiced out. A whistling sound echoed out from nowhere... as though it came
from a whistle— Following that came an explosive sound, a massive flower bloomed in the sky.

“Oooh! It’s started! I’ve got to go. I’ve passed the message to you!”

Saying that, Tohka left in a panic. Looks like she really came to just pass the message.

“Haha... She really is busy.” Shidou lightly smiled, turning to look at Yoshino.

“Isn’t that great, Yoshino. Well then, let’s walk to the river then. We’ll be able to view it much
clearer from there.”

Saying that, Shidou attempted to stand up. However, Yoshino shook her head.

“Here, it’s better.”

“Eh?”

Shidou made a surprised expression. Yoshino continued to stare at the crackling incense-stick
firework as she opened her mouth and spoke.

“I... prefer the fireworks over here.”

Saying that, Yoshino’s cheeks turned red. [Yoshinon]’s face—slowly turned red too, but it was
uncertain if it was due to the glow of the fireworks.
Kotori Birthday

“—Commander Itsuka! Happy birthday to you!”

A deafening sound echoed out the instant Itsuka Kotori entered <Fraxinus>’s bridge, party
poppers were repeatedly fired off. A resounding applause followed, and a trolley cart that had
cake loaded on it was also pushed in.

“...Seriously, you guys.”

Faced with such a heartwarming scene, Kotori lightly sighed. Twin ponytails tied with black
ribbons, a young girl who wore an iconic crimson leather jacket. She is without a doubt the
youngest person in the room, however her actions and speech hinted at the authority of a leader.

“What are you guys doing so early in the morning...”

As Kotori uttered that line, the crew members voiced their disapproval.

“Today is our commander’s fourteenth birthday! How can you continue to work on such an
important day!”

“I heard that the commander is already holding a party at her house this evening, so we can only
celebrate now!”

Although today is the third of August, which happens to be Kotori’s birthday... It somehow feels
that they had gone slightly overboard.

“...Well, there’s nothing bad about it. Everyone just wants to wish you well; that’s all.”

Reine Murasame, who was standing on her left, spoke. Kotori could only reply

“Nn...” as she began to stutter.

“Of course, I did not say that we could not celebrate. That is, I... I don’t really dislike this.”

Looking at Kotori who replied with an unsteady gaze, the crew members began to get excited.

“It’s here! The commander’s dere expression!!”

“Thank the gods! Thank the gods!”

A tall man who was standing behind the crowd

—Kannazuki stepped out.

“Happy birthday to you, Commander. Being able to meet the commander in person on such a
memorable day, I can’t feel thankful enough for this moment!”

Kannazuki made a movement as though he was trying to hold back his tears as he continued.

“As such, we have prepared a special gift for you this year!”

“...A special gift?”

As Kotori asked in surprise, the rest of the crew members hastily ran over to cover Kannazuki’s
mouth.

“Why are you saying this out of the blue!”

“We still have to keep this a secret?!”

“Ah, that, that is true...”

Kotori glared at the crew with a gaze of suspicion.

“...What are you guys plotting?”

“Ah, that is... Hahaha.”

Just as the crew was intending to laugh it off, Reine raised her head as though she just thought of
something.

“...Speaking of presents, Kotori, Shin seems like he still hasn’t decided on what to give you yet,
you could ask him to get something that you want. Why don’t you try and ask him?”

Although it seems like she was saying that just to draw her attention away from the topic...
There’s not much meaning if she tried to get to the bottom of it right now. Kotori turned to face
Reine. At the same time, Kotori heard the crew members heave sighs of relief.

“That sort of thing, I can’t think of anything if you ask me that all of a sudden.”

“...Then how about we change that to something that you want him to do for you?”

“Eh?”

Looking at Kotori’s suspicious face, Reine held up a finger.

“...For example, today you will be dere towards your onii-chan and the like?”

“W-why did it become that way! I don’t want to be dere towards him!”

“...”

“W-what is it?”

“...Nothing. Well, if you put it that way then we’ll leave it at that...”

Saying that, Reine turned back and sat down in her own seat, getting back to work. After
momentarily staring at Reine’s back without a sound, Kotori clapped her hands.

“Alright alright, hurry up and get back to work.”

The crew members immediately returned to their workstations.

“Really now.”

Kotori sighed as she played with her fringe.

“...That kind of thing, how is it possible for me to say it...”

“Oh, oooh...! Shidou! What is this moving thing called?”

Tohka Yatogami pointed at the display window in front of her, enthusiastically crying out.
Night-colored long hair and a perfect face. She was a girl whose beauty was just as described.
What she saw in front of her was a thin saucer-like automated cleaning machine that was
currently in operation. It truly was moving around in a cute manner. However, Itsuka Shidou
merely sighed, after which he placed his hand on Tohka’s shoulder.

“Tohka, do you remember today’s mission?”

“Nn? Nn, of course I remember! It’s to buy something to celebrate Kotori’s birthday!”

Tohka nodded exaggeratedly. That’s right, Shidou and Tohka at present were at the shopping
mall located in front of Tenguu Train Station in order to search for Kotori’s birthday present.

“That’s correct, so you understand right? At the very least Kotori won’t be happy if that gets into
her hands. Perhaps I would feel happier if I got that.”

“Then Shidou should get it!”

“That’s not the point...”

“That...”
Just as Shidou was in conversation with Tohka, a voice called out from his back. Turning around
to look, standing right there was a small girl who was wearing a straw sunhat whose left hand
had a rabbit puppet on. She was Yoshino, who tagged along in order to help Shidou search for
Kotori’s birthday present.

“Shidou-san, what do you think... of this?”

Saying that, Yoshino used her right hand and the hand that had the puppet on to pass a box for
Shidou to look at. Inside the box was an exquisite white tea set.

“Ohh... I see, I think that it’s a great idea, Kotori likes to drink red tea after all.”

Hearing Shidou say that, Yoshino’s face became red due to embarrassment.

“Oooh... I get it now, so that would be more suitable! Then I’ll—”

Shidou stopped Tohka who seemed like she had realized something and was about to run into the
mall.

“You can’t, she’ll feel awkward if she receives a similar present from multiple people, right?”

“Uuh... is that so. Then, Shidou, what do you want to give her?”

“Eh? I...”

Being questioned, Shidou was rendered speechless. It was not because he had to keep it a secret
till the party, it was also not something that is embarrassing to say when said out loud. It was
simply because he still has not thought of what to get for her. It was not that Shidou was clueless
about what Kotori would want that would make her happy.

However, once he considered that it was a birthday that happens only once a year, it became hard
for him to make a final decision... As a result, he is still unable to decide on a gift even on her
birthday itself.

“Nn...”

Shidou used his hand to support his chin, closing his eyes and tried to picture Kotori in his mind.

—After that,

“—Ah, now that you mention it...”

Shidou opened his eyes, as though recalling something.

“...Where’s Kotori?”
“She just returned home.”

Kannazuki swiftly replied to Reine’s question. At the same time, the crew members in the bridge
showed battle-ready expressions, awaiting instructions at their own work stations. That’s right,
the 3rd of August has just begun.

“Everyone, are you all ready?”

“Yes sir!”

At the same moment the crew members replied as one, the main screen at the bridge displayed
the image of the Itsuka residence. Shidou and the others were in the midst of happily preparing
for the party.

“Alright then, next up is the main point, let me reconfirm the battle plan. First of all—”

Kannazuki briefly ran through the plan for the final time. Just as Kannazuki had finished his
explanation of the battle plan, He suddenly threw a suspicious look behind him.

“Nn?” “What’s the matter?”

“Was there someone over there just now?”

The crew members turned their heads around at Kannazuki’s words, but there was no one there.

“No one’s there. Are you thinking too much?”

Kannazuki scratched his head and tilted his head in confusion.

“...Uh.”

Reine turned to look at the door, using her hand to support her chin as she did so.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

A warm cheer resonated at the dining table of the Itsuka residence. The table was full of dishes
that Shidou made, with a huge strawberry cake in the center. 3rd August, Thursday.

It was Shidou’s sister—Kotori Itsuka’s fourteenth birthday. Seated right inside was the person of
the day Kotori. Seated on the two sides were Tohka, Yoshino, Shidou and Reine.

“I already did say that it would have been better if you guys had kept it simple...”

Saying that, Kotori who seated at the birthday seat slowly blushed crimson. It could be because
Kotori was constantly fidgeting, but her two ponytails that were tied together with black ribbons
seemed to be happily waving about.
“...Happy birthday. This has the best wishes of everyone onboard <Fraxinus> in it.”

Reine passed over a simple square box to Kotori.

“Thank you... So, this was the special present mentioned previously?”

“...Why don’t you guess?”

Reine started to purposely avoid making eye contact, Kotori in turn stared at Reine’s face with a
suspicious expression. However, that expression was swiftly replaced with another expression.

“Kotori! Happy birthday!”

“Happy birthday, Kotori-san!”

[Congratulations!]

Tohka, Yoshino and [Yoshinon] passed their delicately wrapped presents to Kotori.

“T-thanks...”

Kotori turned her eyes away, seemingly embarrassed, but accepting the presents. Looking at
Kotori acting this way, Shidou’s facial expression relaxed unconsciously. Kotori seemed to have
noticed that fact as well, her face blushed an even deeper shade of red.

“Ahaha... sorry sorry. About that, happy birthday, Kotori.”

Saying that, Shidou gave his present as well.

“...I guess I have to say thanks to you as well.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“...Can I open them now?”

Kotori looked at everyone as she asked. Tohka, Yoshino and [Yoshinon] eagerly nodded their
heads in agreement. However Reine stopped her.

“...Kotori, can you open my present after we all go back?”

“Eh? It’s not like I can’t, but...”

Kotori inclined her head to the side in confusion, placing Reine’s present that was in her hands to
one side. Seeing that, Shidou raised his volume.

“Ah—If it is possible, can my present be opened when everyone goes home as well?”
“Shidou, you too? I can... but the way the two of you are acting, have you planned something?”

“No, there’s no planning whatsoever...” Shidou stuttered as he replied. How to say it, Shidou
somehow felt that it would be embarrassing if it were to be exposed in front of everyone. It was
embarrassing to the point where he had to get Tohka and Yoshino to wait outside when he bought
it.

“Uh... Well, it’s fine. Then I’ll open Tohka’s and Yoshino’s first.”

Tohka, on the other hand, excitedly leaned forward over the table.

“Hey Shidou, can we start eating?!”

Tohka pointed to the dishes on the table, her eyes shining as though she couldn’t wait any longer.

“Nn... shouldn’t we wait until Kotori opens the presents?”

“Is that so? We should normally open presents first huh... sorry Kotori, I’ve been rude.”

After Shidou gently reminded Tohka, Tohka immediately apologized to Kotori as though she had
just realized something.

“It’s alright, let’s eat first.”

After Kotori waved her hands and said that line, Tohka’s expressions immediately brightened.

“Really?!”

“Of course.”

Kotori nodded her head in agreement. Tohka then turned to face Shidou, since the star of the day
has already said there’s nothing he could do about it, Shidou too nodded his head.

“Oooh, then I’m digging in!”

Tohka said it as such, happily putting her hands together with a

’Pa!’

Approximately three hours passed. Once everybody had tasted the delicious food, drank tea from
the teaset that Yoshino and [Yoshinon] had bought and played the board games that Tohka had
given, it was finally time for Tohka to return to the building next door, and for Yoshino and
Reine to go back to <Fraxinus>.

“Nn, then I’ll see you tomorrow, Shidou.”

Tohka yawned with a “Haa”

“Alright, remember to bathe and brush your teeth.”

“Nn!”

Tohka nodded her head in agreement before wearing her shoes and opening the door.

“...Well then, we better be going now.”

“Good night...”

[Seeya!]

Following behind Tohka, Reine and the others slowly made their way to the foyer. As though
replying to their words, Kotori waved to them.

“Nn, see you tomorrow.”

After that Tohka and the others waved their hands in return and closed the door with a

’Patan.’

Only when their footsteps faded from earshot did Shidou stretch and relax.

“Well then, I guess I should hurry up and finish clearing things up.”

Saying that Shidou returned to the living room and started to clear the remaining utensils left on
the table. Kotori on the other hand seemed to be avoiding Shidou’s line of sight as she sneaked to
the corner where the sofa was and started to fiddle with something.

“Kotori? What are you doing?”

“! Don’t mind me!”

“...?”

Despite his confusion, Shidou merely tilted his head and continued to clear the utensils. After a
while Kotori stood up, walking towards the dining table in the living room. For reasons
unknown, Kotori looked slightly different from before.

“Alright... Next up is...”

Kotori stood in front of the dining table, forcefully stuck her head out in an unnatural manner.
And so at that moment, one of the black ribbons that Kotori used to tie her hair fell off and
happened to land on the cutlery.
“Uwah!”

Kotori hastily fished her ribbon out.

“Ah, it’s dirty...”

“Oi, oi... here, let me see.”

Saying that Shidou extended his hand towards Kotori. However, Kotori suddenly took a step
backwards just as Shidou’s hand was about to touch her.

“I’m going to change a ribbon since it can’t be helped.”

“Eh? About that, although you should change one, you should at least soak it in water first...”

“I’ll be back soon, wait for me!”

Kotori did not listen to Shidou’s words till the end, running off to the corridor.

“Well... Since it was black anyway, the stain shouldn’t be that obvious.”

Saying that, Shidou noticed something out of the ordinary just now. Now that he recalled when
Kotori came over from the corner of the sofa her ribbon seemed to have already been loosened.

“It can’t be...”

Just as Shidou was in deep thought, Kotori suddenly pushed open the door to the living room and
came back.

“Oniichan!!”

—It was the highly expressive Kotori who had changed into white ribbons. From her
expressions, Kotori became reasonably gentler, her speech became the same as that of how girls
her age should be. If people who aren’t aware were to see this, they would probably think that
she was (black ribbon) Kotori’s twin sister.

“Kotori...?”

He frowned whilst feeling that something was odd... but then he decided that it was unavoidable.
Kotori only has that single pair of black ribbons. To Kotori, the act of [changing ribbons] had an
even deeper meaning compared to changing clothes. When she wears white ribbons, she was the
Kotori that was as sweet and innocent as her age group would imply. When she wore black
ribbons, she was the Kotori that was the tough commander of <Fraxinus>. It was precisely
because of these two distinct personalities, that Kotori was able to possess a [strong self] and
undertake cruel missions.
“Alright, let’s clean up! Clean up!”

Kotori seemed to be happy as she rolled up her sleeves and brought the cutlery to the washbasin.
For a second Shidou was left in a daze, but that was quickly changed to that of a bitter smile.
That was because ever since Shidou started interacting with the Spirits, situations where Kotori
was in commander mode has been increasing, so it was kind of refreshing for Shidou to see the
original Kotori.

“Onii-chan? What’s the matter?”

Kotori used a questioning glance to look at Shidou. Shidou on the other hand waved his hand
from side to side in an attempt to cover it up and continued to walk to the washbasin. At this
moment, Kotori seemed to have remembered something, looking towards the present which
Reine had given her that was left on the chair.

“They did say that we should open it once everyone went back right? So it should be alright if I
open it now?”

“Nn, open it then.”

When Shidou said that, Kotori immediately used a refreshing American-style method to tear the
wrapping open.

“What’s inside?”

“It... looks like a DVD of a movie.”

“A movie? Is it self-produced? Just like [A great leader and rare revolutionary—Comrade Kotori
Itsuka and our footsteps] or something like that.”

“It can’t be! Although I’ve never seen it before, it looks like the kind that is commonly sold on
the market.”

“Eh... That’s odd.”

Shidou shrugged as he put on his apron. Thinking about the crew members of <Fraxinus> who
loved Kotori so much, he was kind of expecting a unique present. Shidou began to wash the
dishes as he pondered. Following that, a low hum sounded from the television, it seems that
Kotori had started watching that movie.

“Hey hey, you’re watching it now?”

“It’s alright, it’s alright, it will end in two hours or so. Presents are rarely given, it’s better to
finish watching it today.”
“...Really now, be sure to bathe immediately after watching it.”

“I know!”

A single hand rose from the sofa. Shidou went back to washing the dishes. However, a few
minutes later.

“Waaaaaaaaa?!”

At the same time a loud sound was emitted from the television speakers, Kotori began crying out
loudly as she escaped into the kitchen. For good measure, she hugged Shidou’s waist and hid
behind him.

“Waa! Wh, what’s with you...”

Shidou lowered his gaze, looking at Kotori who was tightly grabbing onto the corner of Shidou’s
shirt, Shidou felt his shoulder tremble from her shaking. Shidou frowned as he looked towards
the screen of the television—and soon found out the reason for this situation. Shown on the
screen was a horde of terrifying zombies, it looked like it was a horror movie. It seems that he
has become absent minded recently, he just remembered that Kotori was weak towards stuff
involving horror.

“Really now, Reine-san... don’t tell me she has no idea that Kotori is terrified of such things...?
Alright then, I’ll turn it off for you, so you can let go now.”

Shidou said as he wiped his hands on the apron, however Kotori shook her head while trembling.

“N… No need. I want to finish it.”

“I say, aren’t you really afraid of these kinds of things? You don’t have to force yourself...”

“...This was selected by everyone for me, so I have to finish watching this.”

Saying that, Kotori raised her head. Judging from her expression, it looks like she does not wish
to let down the <Fraxinus> crew.

“...Well then, um, all the best.”

“Nn...!”

Kotori vigorously nodded her head, walking towards the living room. ... For some unknown
reason, she was still pulling on the edge of Shidou’s clothing.

“I still have to wash the dishes...”

“...Uu...”

Kotori suddenly made an expression as though she was about to break down in tears, Shidou
sighed as though it can’t be helped, took off the apron and walked towards the living room along
with Kotori.

“...What’s the situation?”

After sending Yoshino back to her room, Reine who had returned to the bridge of <Fraxinus>
questioned the crew with a low voice. “The commander has started to watch the movie.
Furthermore it looks like we have succeeded in making her feel frightened.

“...But she is still watching it, correct?”

“That’s right, there is no sign of her stopping, it seems that she intends to finish watching the
movie.”

“After all the commander did say that she would never do any rude acts such as carelessly
handling presents...!”

“Nn... how wonderful, commander...!”

The crew wiped their eyes while being extremely touched.

“However, it was really a stroke of luck, we didn’t expect her ribbon to be changed. It was as
though it was destined!”

“...Just a coincidence, huh?”

“Is something the matter?”

“...It’s nothing.”

After Reine returned to her seat, she looked at Kotori and Shidou who were shown on the main
screen.

“...Honestly, we should let Kotori do what she wants occasionally.”

Reine manipulated the controls as she said that, and a complicated route map was shown on the
screen.

“...Two hours from now, we will start Phase Two of our battle plan. Make preparations.”

“Understood!”
The crew members replied to Reine’s orders with raised voices. On a side note, looking at the
vice-commander who was originally supposed to give the orders— Kannazuki.

“Ah, that expression is excellent, commander! But the S commander is also...!”

He was alone while immersed in his delusions. The two hours were... lacking in comfort. Due to
the screen repeatedly showing monsters from the movie, coupled with the fact that a sudden
telephone ring would cause Kotori to squeal aloud and grab Shidou’s sleeves tightly, or bury her
face into his side. The movie finally ended with much effort, his sleeves seemed to have been
stretched quite a fair bit.

“Haa... Haa...”

Kotori’s eyes were red due to the circulation of blood, she rested her head onto Shidou’s
shoulder. Through the bodily contact Shidou was able to feel her rapid heartbeat as well as her
damp body due to sweat.

“Look, it already ended. There’s no need to be afraid anymore.”

“Nn, nn...”

After taking a deep breath, Kotori finally released Shidou’s hand. However—At that instant.

“Eh...?!”

Suddenly, all the lights in the room went out, causing the loudest wail of today to cry out.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!”

“Uwah! Ca-calm down, Kotori!”

Perhaps she panicked due to the sudden turn of events, in the pitch black darkness, Kotori
pounced on Shidou. Shidou gently patted Kotori’s back attempting to calm her down, at the same
time he took out his handphone as a form of illumination.

“Is it a power trip...? I’ll go and take a look, so can you stay here and wait for me...”

“I dun wadda!” (I don’t wanna)

Kotori said using a voice that was on the verge of breaking down, hugging him tightly.

“There’s no helping it then... Let’s go and take a look together.”

“Au—”
Shidou stood up, with Kotori tightly gripping onto his hand. Using the weak light for
illumination, they slowly moved from the corridor to the circuit breaker.

“Eh... There’s nothing wrong with the circuit breaker. Don’t tell me it’s a power outage?”

“Eh? Ehh...?!”

Probably thinking that everything would be alright once they arrived here, Kotori couldn’t help
but cry out.

“T-then what should we do...?”

“Well... I guess we’ll have to make do until the power comes back on again.”

After Shidou said that, Kotori’s eyes widened in horror.

“No... No way...! Absolutely not!”

“Even if you say that, there’s nothing I can do.”

Shidou scratched his head feeling troubled. However Kotori whose body was quivering like a
small animal raised her head as though she had just thought of an idea. “T-that’s right! Onii-chan,
let’s go to the <Fraxinus>!”

“Ahh, you’re right. We still have that option.”

Not even waiting for Shidou to finish his sentence, Kotori took out her earphone and put it into
her ear.

“...He, hello! It’s Kotori Itsuka, is this Murasame-san?!”

Kotori seemed to be in panic as she spoke through the earphone.

“Ah, Reine! Can you immediately bring the two of us—Eh?”

Kotori was midway through her words when she stopped and turned to look at Shidou.

“O... Onii-chan...”

“Wh.. What’s the matter?”

“T-that is... she said that there’s something wrong with the transfer unit... it will only be fixed
tomorrow morning...”

“Ah, is that so?”

Shidou frowned as he replied. Reine and the others just made use of that not too long ago... can it
really happen in such a short time span? Although he was not sure of the exact details, if they
were unable to make use of the transfer device, then they would be unable to enter the ship. It
seems that they couldn’t use that plan.

“...Let’s go back to the living room, then.”

“Uu... nn...”

Kotori made an uneasy sound, following Shidou’s back as she held his hand tight. Shidou
carefully made his way through the pitch black corridor. When they arrived at the entrance of the
living room, Kotori suddenly stopped in her footsteps.

“? What’s wrong, Kotori? Aren’t you going in?”

“Gah... um.”

Kotori looked embarrassed, she rubbed her thighs together as she lowered her head and twisted
her body.

“I... I need to go to the washroom...”

“Ha? Oh, then you should go then.”

You don’t have to explicitly voice it out... just as Shidou was contemplating that, Kotori shook
her head with a degree of force that one might worry that it would fall off.

“H-how can I go...!”

“You can’t hold it in for an entire night...”

“Uu... uuuu...”

Kotori frowned and raised her head, after taking a look at the dark corridor, she swiftly conveyed
her thoughts to Shidou using eye contact, there’s just no way she can do it!

“B-bring the toilet bowl over...! I’m going to do it here!”

“Idiot! How can I bring that over!”

“T-then I’ll settle for diapers, hurry up and give it to me!”

“You should just go—”

Just as Shidou started to speak, the doorbell rang.

“Eek...?!”

Kotori’s body gave a violent jolt and pounced on Shidou, lowering her head and fidgeting.

“Uu, uuu... I think it came out a little...”

“Eh?”

“N-nothing at all!”

Although there were many things that he did not understand, he couldn’t very well leave a visitor
outside unattended. Shidou walked towards the entrance dragging Kotori along with him.

“I’m coming, who is it...”

After opening the door, standing outside was a tall male carrying an enormous cardboard box
with his cap worn at the eyebrow level.

“Good evening. This is a package that was sent to your house.”

“You are still delivering... at this time?”

“Yes! Do use it immediately!”

Shidou tilted his head. That voice feels familiar somehow.

“Don’t tell me you are, Kannazuki-sa—”

“! I’ll just leave this here then!”

“About that... don’t you need me to stamp it...?”

But the man left, just as Shidou was midway through his words.

“What in the world is going on here...”

Shidou stared at the door for a while before shutting it, looking at the cardboard box. After
moving it to the corridor, he tore the tape and opened it. Inside the box was a duck-shaped urinal
for infants and diapers.

“T-this is...”

“!! H-hurry up and give that to me!”

Kotori yelled out, taking out the urinal from the cardboard box, squatting over it.

“H-hold on a minute! If you are going to do this it is going to be wrong on so many levels?!”
“I’m already at my limit here...!”

Kotori yelled as though she had run out of options, using her hands to hold her abdomen. Shidou
couldn’t help but sigh lightly.

“I understand. I will follow you then.”

Saying that, Kotori hesitated for an instant before nodding her head.

“Nn... Thank you, Onii-chan.”

Kotori said to him with an honest expression, putting more strength into holding Shidou’s hand.

“Uuh...”

Shidou let out a groan. Somehow due to being constantly scolded by her recently, when the
current Kotori is able to honestly rely on him like this, it made him feel extremely happy. Shidou
made his way to the washroom, building up his Onii-chan power as he did so.

“Well then, I’ll wait for you here then.”

“Nn...”

After Kotori slightly nodded her head, she timidly opened the door to the toilet.

“Kya...!”

However, she couldn’t help but hold her breath and retreat a few steps back upon gazing into the
space resembling a black hole. Well, to be honest Shidou did understand how she felt, after all he
too felt slightly creeped out. The current Kotori must be full of fear right now.

“I can’t do it... I’m too scared...!”

“Even if you say that... there’s no other way. Isn’t it going to come out already?”

“Uuh...”

After Kotori made a tiny whine, she seemed to have thought of something as she opened her
mouth to speak.

“O-Onii-chan should come in as well!”

“Ha... Haa?”

Hearing her sudden solution, Shidou accidentally let out an agitated voice while frowning.
“You, what are you saying? How can I—”

“Then I will do it inside the urinal! Or I will do it right here! I’ve already made my resolve!”

“What the hell!”

“Oh no, I’m at my limit! It’s coming out!”

“Ah, really... I got it already!”

He couldn’t very well let his fourteen year old sister do a disgraceful thing like leaking. As such
Shidou entered the toilet while holding Kotori’s hand.

“Onii-chan, please look the other way...”

“Oo, oh...”

Following her instructions, he turned his body towards the door. Very swiftly Kotori started to
move behind Shidou`’s back, hearing the sound of thin fabric rubbing against each other, Shidou
got a shock.

“Um, Onii-chan... Can you please cover your ears...?”

“! Ah, s-sorry...”

He totally did not notice this fact. Shidou hastily used his hands to plug his two ears. After which
Kotori used her two hands to tightly hug Shidou’s body. ... Although Shidou wasn’t the cause, he
somehow felt that he was doing something extremely wrong, causing his heart to beat violently.
An extremely massive sense of immorality filled his heart, exiting from his nose as heated
breathing. Not long after, the two hands that were wrapped around his body relaxed, softly
hugging his back.

“It’s alright now. ... Thank you.”

“Nn... You’re welcome.”

Saying that, Shidou and Kotori walked out of the washroom together. The problem was finally
solved, Shidou breathed a sigh of relief. However the next problem swiftly appeared—a few
minutes right after they came out of the toilet.

“I think... Since we can’t do anything due to the power out, why don’t we turn in early for the
night.”

As soon as Shidou said that, Kotori made a voice of displeasure.

“Ehh—...”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just... I haven’t taken a bath today...”

Although the electricity reliant water heater has stopped working, the power outage happened not
too long ago, therefore the water in the bathtub should still be warm. However...

“...But, the bathroom is pitch dark as well you know? Will you be alright?”

“Uuu... But my body’s all sticky...”

“Well you did make a big ruckus just now.”

After Shidou spoke, Kotori pouted.

“A-about that, Onii-chan...”

“Nn? So you’re finally giving up?”

“If, if it’s possible, let’s bathe together...”

“No way!”

It was true that they used to take baths together when they were young, but it’s impossible to
bathe with his sister whose secondary sex characteristics are beginning to show. Shidou
frantically waved his hands and objected. Kotori tightly clung onto Shidou’s body and pleaded.

“Onii-chan... This is my life’s greatest wish... Please bathe with me...”

Kotori begged with a sobbing voice, rushing towards Shidou with a tear-streaked face. Shidou
made a troubled expression and lightly sighed.

“Doing this is just not right...”

“There’s no problem, because it’s impossible to see due to the darkness! Also, we’re siblings!”

“Um...”

“Oniiiiiii-chaaaaaaaan...”

“I got it I got it. I’ll bathe with you, so stop clinging onto me!”

Faced with Kotori’s forceful advances, Shidou finally gave in, he raised his two arms up to
indicate his surrender. Only then did Kotori release her hold of Shidou’s body.
“Really now... Only for today, alright?”

After leading Kotori into the changing room and preparing bath towels as well as clothes to
change into, he started to take off his clothes with his back turned to Kotori.

“Uu...”

However, resistance still existed within him. Even though they were siblings, bathing with a
person of the opposite sex and similar age still does not feel right... If Kotori were to speak of
this incident to anybody, Shidou may very well be met with the death penalty in society.
Needless to say, neither his friends nor his parents must know of this.

Just as Shidou was contemplating these problems, behind his back came the sound of Kotori
taking off her clothes. It seems that she has started to make preparations to enter the bath. As
such Shidou, too, hastily finished removing his clothes, placing them in the washing basket.

“Onii-chan... are you done?”

“O-oh... yeah.”

A room devoid of light. Although his eyes have already gotten used to the darkness, he could
only roughly see Kotori’s outline. However once he recalled that the sister before him is
currently in a state with her clothes removed, he couldn’t help but panic.

“Onii-chan...?”

“Aaah... I’m sorry, let’s go in.”

After Shidou entered the bathroom, he carefully felt for and removed the cover of the bathtub,
immersing his body inside. Usually he should first wash his body clean before entering the bath,
but since they were currently in a special situation as well as in their own home, that could be
ignored. Closely behind Shidou, Kotori too entered the bathtub. Facing Shidou, she sat down in
the bathtub like how she did during P.E. lessons. Due to two people entering the tub, a large
amount of water flowed out as a result.

“Ah... A bath feels great.”

“Uu, nn... After bathing in warm water I feel less scared compared to just now...”

The legs of the two constantly touched as they engaged in conversation. However, the two soon
felt embarrassed due to the sense of fear dissipating, as a result they soon fell into silence.

“...”
God knows how long had passed, Kotori seemed to have made up her mind about something as
she started to speak to Shidou.

“U-um... Onii-chan. Don’t you think... it’s a little cramped in here?”

“Nn? This is a bathtub designed for a single person after all. Well, since you seem fine by
yourself, then I’ll go—”

“Th-that’s not what I meant!”

Sounds of water splashing could be heard. It seems that Kotori was waving her hands on the
water surface.

“I’m saying... Can I go over there...”

“Eh?”

Shidou tilted his head in question, before he even had the chance to reply, Kotori suddenly stood
up, turned around before entering the bathtub once more. The end result was Kotori sitting on
Shidou’s body.

“Eehh...?!”

His thighs, stomach, and chest were all in close contact with Kotori’s soft skin. Shidou’s body
froze due to Kotori’s sudden action. ... To be honest, he was truly careless. Although he kept
saying “How can we bathe together...”, but deep down, he felt that since they had already bathed
together a few times before, there was no way he would commit any mistakes. But, this is simply
the worst. The absolute worst.

What he felt from Kotori, who was sitting on him, was not the weight of his cute sister, but the
attractive warmth and feeling of a female. If he was unable to control himself here, Shidou would
have reached the point of no return. When his parents return from overseas work, he may
possibly have to introduce a new family member to them. However Kotori did not sense
Shidou’s thoughts at all, simply laughing.

“Ahaha... Onii-chan is scared as well.”

“Eh? W-why do you say that...”

“That’s because your heart is beating even faster now?”

Saying that, Kotori got even closer to him.

“The one I’m frightened of is you!”

Shidou yelled out within his mind. I’m at my limit soon, I have to hurry up and get away from
Kotori. Even though he said that the current Kotori was in a state of fear, she would not be
leaving Shidou-s side that easily.

“Ah... That’s right.”

Shidou suddenly recalled something, using his hand to cover his mouth, he remained silent for a
period of time. Probably feeling that something was off about Shidou, Kotori spoke to Shidou.

“Onii-chan? What’s wrong with you...?”

And then towards Kotori, Shidou used a low, menacing voice to reply.

“Hehehe... Your Onii-chan has already disappeared from this body...”

“Kya...?!”

Kotori held her breath, her body started to tremble. That’s right. Since Kotori did not wish to
leave Shidou’s side, then he’ll have to scare her to make her leave.

“O-Onii-chan?!”

“This body has already been possessed by me...”

“H-how can this be...”

“Kotori-chan, there’s a very nice smell coming from your body... it smells very delicious...”

“Waaaaaaaaa! Waaaaaaaaaaa!”

Kotori let out a wail, frantically moving her limbs. After that she stood up as though she wanted
to escape from the bathtub. Alright... Shidou reflexively clenched his fist. She fell for it, now it’ll
be alright once she escape into the changing room— However,

“Onii-chan! Onii-chaaaaaaaan—!”

Kotori seemed to have remembered something as she suddenly turned around, attempting to
enter the bath once more. Furthermore due to her panic, her foot slipped, falling towards Shidou.
The same time Shidou’s face made contact with an extremely soft and warm area—he gave a
wail. Kotori who suffered a fright due to this let out a wail as well.

“Waa—!” “Waa—!”

...Screams continued to resound from the bathroom.

“A-are you alright, Kotori...?!”

“Nn... and Onii-chan...?”

“Oh, I’m fine too...”

Peace at last. Shidou having changed into his pajamas, spoke as he rubbed the part of his head
that hit the side of the bathtub. Although he suffered multiple injuries, he has somehow avoided
the worst case scenario. Even though he is the older brother he couldn’t very well make a
mistake because of love. Based on the time indicated on his phone, it seems that two or three
hours had passed.

“Since we’ve already brushed our teeth, let’s sleep now.”

“Nn... You’re right...”

Kotori nodded, holding Shidou’s hand in a natural fashion. Due to the recent turn of events, this
made Shidou’s heart skip a beat... However, he still had his pride as her brother, so he did not
openly voice it. Just as Shidou was about to enter his own room, Kotori suddenly exerted more
force into her grip. ...Well, he had already expected as much from the series of events. But
Shidou still turned to face Kotori.

“What’s wrong, Kotori?”

“...Today, please sleep with me?”

“...I expected as much—”

Shidou silently mumbled, nodding his head as though he had completely given up.

“Alright. But it’s only for today.”

“! That’s wonderful!”

Kotori let out a joyful voice. Well, what’s this compared to bathing together..? Shidou and Kotori
first went inside Kotori’s room to take her pillow before moving to Shidou’s room. After placing
his phone on the shelf near the bed, Shidou lay on the bed.

“Hey, Kotori. Be careful not to fall.”

“Nn!”

After Kotori placed her pillow, she too joined Shidou. After Shidou stroked her head, he pulled
the blanket and began to sleep.

“Good night, Kotori.”

“Nn... Good night, Onii-chan.”

Kotori spoke in a small voice. Although he couldn’t see her expression, he felt that she was
probably smiling when she said that. Perhaps it was due to fatigue, but before even ten minutes
had passed, Shidou had already slipped into a deep sleep. Just before he totally fell asleep,

“Today... really, thanks a lot. —I love you so much, Onii-chan.”

Seemingly hearing something like that, as well as feeling something soft on his cheek... Whether
it was real or just a dream, Shidou could no longer tell. On the main screen on the bridge of
<Fraxinus>, Shidou and Kotori were shown sleeping closely next to each other. Looking at the
image, the crew members nodded with satisfaction, clapping their hands together, some of them
even started tearing due to the influx of emotions. Among them, there was also one that was
screaming, “Why aren’t there scenes of the toilet and the bathrooooooooooom?!”, but would be
alright to ignore him.

In a nutshell, the present was successfully given to Kotori. Reine watched the screen as she
quietly spoke.

“...Happy birthday, Kotori.”

“Seiya!”

“Gaoo...?!”

The next morning. Accompanied with the sunlight shining through the window, the violent
impact generated at his torso, caused Shidou’s body to nearly break in two.

“Hmph, what kind of cry was that, you can stay here and act like a lion if you want.”

A strong voice sounded out. Kotori, who had already changed, was standing right there eating a
lollipop. —On a side note, her hair was currently tied up with black ribbons.

“Kotori... That is.”

Due to the power outage last night, Kotori’s black ribbons should still be unwashed...

“Ah.”

At this point, Shidou noticed something. Those black ribbons were too clean and neat to have
been used for five years.

“You’ve already... put them on huh.”

That’s right. The ribbons Kotori is using right now were Shidou’s present from last night. After
all, Kotori had been using the black ribbons since Shidou gave them to her five years ago.
Although she had always treasured them, wear and tear was unavoidable. The quality became
rough, and threads began to come out. Shidou, who had noticed this fact, bought ribbons
identical to the ones five years ago and gave them to Kotori once more.

“Well, Shidou’s performance is average I guess. I’ll commend you for that.”

Saying that, Kotori jumped from Shidou’s body to the floor.

“Nnn...”

Shidou slowly sat up, rubbing his throbbing chest as he did so.

“But... since you’ve already woken up you could have woken me up as well. You don’t have to
open the present and wake me after wearing that...”

“Hmph, the person who can’t wake up only has himself to blame. —Furthermore, I already
opened all the presents yesterday. I won’t do something as rude as setting aside gifts for a night.”

Her words and actions were totally opposite from yesterday. Shidou couldn’t help but sigh while
missing that cute little sister.

“Really now, you were still crying and shouting ‘Onii-chan, Onii-chan’ yesterday too...”

“Mach Pierce!”

“Guha?!”

Kotori hit him with an attack that utilized her full strength; Shidou groaned from the impact.

“You better come down quickly. —Even though it’s a little simple, I’ve already made breakfast”

“Eh?”

Shidou could not stop himself from widening his eyes in surprise. Kotori was bad at cooking...

“How rare. Have you been planning to do so?”

“...I just felt like doing it, and I’m not too sure about the taste either.”

“That doesn’t matter. Thank you.”

“...Hmph”

As Kotori finished, she twirled the stick of the lollipop in her mouth and walked out of the room.
“...Nn?”

At this moment, he suddenly realized something. Kotori’s words just now... there was something
odd about them. She claimed to have already opened all the gifts the previous night. But ever
since the power outage, Kotori had always been with Shidou. If Kotori had the opportunity to
move about by herself, she would only have had the few minutes after Shidou fell asleep... But
that would mean Kotori would have to walk inside the pitch black house, in the middle of the
night, by herself, to the living room. If she was able to accomplish that, then wouldn’t she be
able to go to the toilet and bathe by herself...?

“Forget it... That’s impossible.”

Shidou shrugged. How can Kotori, who was so afraid of the dark do that? She must have opened
it when Shidou was unaware.

“—Shidou! You’re too slow!”

“Oh no…”

The terrifying Imouto-sama’s voice could be heard from the bottom of the staircase. Shidou
hastily walked out of the room.

“...Hmph”

As Kotori finished, she twirled the stick of the lollipop in her mouth and walked out of the room.

“...Nn?”

At this moment, he suddenly realized something.

Kotori’s words just now... there was something odd about them.

She claimed to have already opened all the gifts the previous night.

But ever since the power outage, Kotori had always been with Shidou.

If Kotori had the opportunity to move about by herself, she would only have had the few minutes
after Shidou fell asleep... But that would mean Kotori would have to walk inside the pitch black
house, in the middle of the night, by herself, to the living room.

If she was able to accomplish that, then wouldn’t she be able to go to the toilet and bathe by
herself...?

“Forget it... That’s impossible.”

Shidou shrugged. How can Kotori - who was so afraid of the dark - do that? She must have
opened it when Shidou was unaware.

“—Shidou! You’re too slow!”

“Oh no...”

The terrifying imouto-sama’s voice could be heard from the bottom of the staircase, as such
Shidou hastily walked out of the room.

End.
Yamai Lunchtime

September 1st. The second day of school after the summer break.

In the uproar of the lunch break, Shidou is walking down the stairs next to his classroom.

“Kuku... be honored, Shidou, to be able to present us Maiden of Cyclones, Yamai, with food.”

“Gratitude. Thank you for showing us the way.”

The voices could be heard from Shidou’s back. Shidou let out a breath and glanced in that
direction.

Two girls with the same face in a school uniform are there.

A slender girl who tied her hair up is throwing her head back and laughing arrogantly, while
another girl with a model-like figure who braided her hair up is bowing in a dazed look.

Yamai Kaguya and Yamai Yuzuru. The twin spirits whose powers Shidou sealed two months
ago.

“No, it is me who should apologize. It was my miscommunication to begin with.”

“Don’t worry, I am being generous today; after all, I could be in a different class from Yuzuru.
Yuzuru is too cute. If she is left alone, I don’t know how many bad insects will come near her.”

“Relief. Yuzuru is also relieved. Thinking that I might have to leave a super-beautiful girl such as
Kaguya alone in the middle of a pack of wolves gave me shivers.”

“No, fufu... Yuzuru is way cuter”

“Disagreement. Kaguya is cuter.”

“Aw you, Yuzuru”

“Counterattack. Kaguya”

Saying that, Kaguya and Yuzuru blushed and started to entwine each other’s fingers. They are
intimate enough that Shidou feels embarrassed just by looking at them.

That is right. The Yamai sisters are joining 3rd class of 2nd year of Raizen High School starting
today.
Initially they were considered to be transferred into the same 4th class as Shidou, however since
their mental condition will stay stable enough if they are together, they ended up getting
transferred into the next class instead.

Well, that is okay. Since these two had joined the school trip as transfer students who will be
transferring into the school in the new semester, this is to be expected.

However, nobody had told Shidou the schedule until today.

As a result — Shidou couldn’t prepare a boxed lunch for the Yamai sisters.

That is why they, and Shidou, are going to the school store on the 1st floor.

“We are almost there —”

Shidou stopped at the familiar-looking girl that appeared before him.

A doll-like girl with her hair cut around her shoulder fastened with a hairpin. The girl is holding
bread in a bag and a small milk carton in her hands.

“Oh, Origami. You are buying from the school store today too?”

When Shidou asked, the girl — Tobiichi Origami nodded.

“Sometimes, when I am busy. Shidou too?”

“No, today is Kaguya’s and Yuzuru’s.”

“I see.”

Origami shortly answered and continued walking upstairs.

“Consent. If the store is Master Origami’s favorite, then it might be worth looking forward to.”

Yuzuru nodded at Origami’s back while seeing her off. Come to think of it, Yuzuru started
calling Origami her master for some reason since the school trip.

“Well... it depends on which kind of bread.”

Shidou walked down the stairs with a wry smile.

After walking for a short while — they can feel an abnormal air of excitement before them.

“Hmm? That is...?”

Kaguya who is walking behind Shidou said with a dubious voice.

That is not surprising. Among other things, numerous students are gathering on the first floor –
in front of the school store as if it is a scene of year’s end sales or rush hours in the morning.

“Croquette bread please! Also a strawberry milk!” “Ew, don’t pull my clothes!” “Listen! The
only good curry bread is the one that I eat!” “I must get it no matter what!” “Medic!
Mediiiiiiiiic!” “Dammit, just for some bread, why?!”

The crowds clamored. Screams could be heard. Shrieks are deafening everyone’s ears.

The fierce scene of battlefield appeared over there from the imbalance of one store lady handling
numerous amounts of students.

“Ew, as I thought, it was too late. Looks like we have to wait a little before we can buy it.”

Shidou scratched his head and mumbled.

Although Shidou had not used the school store for quite some time since his first year, the scene
of a battlefield was always there when he failed the sprint.

However, Kaguya and Yuzuru only lifted the corners of their lips at such a scene in front of the
school store.

“What, what. This really gets me worked up. And when I thought they all are just livestock
without any fangs, it seems like they still have a fighting instinct within them after all. Kuku, this
boiled up my blood. Yuzuru?”

“Excitement. Not bad. While the past two months have been comfortable, my body was getting
rusty.”

Kaguya and Yuzuru looked at each other and stepped forward.

“H-hey, you two.”

“Don’t worry, Shidou. I just have to pay the store owner inside the store, don’t I?”

“Agreement. Then that is easy. For Yuzuru and Kaguya, there is nothing impossible.”

Said that, Kaguya and Yuzuru then started running out at the same moment.

When they reached the outer edge of the students, Yuzuru bent down one of her knees and
clasped her hands.

“Setup. — Kaguya.”

“Aw right!”
Kaguya shouted and mounted her legs on Yuzuru’s hands. Incidentally, the slippers Kaguya was
wearing are already thrown to the back without anyone realizing.

“Haaaaa!”

With the shouting, Kaguya’s body is dancing in the air.

She then leaped over other student’s heads and made a curve to the front of the school store.

However—

“Secret Arts – ‘Fallen Hero’ Icarus Faaaaaall!!”

The moment such a voice is heard from somewhere, someone fiercely blew Kaguya’s body from
the left side with his body.

“Wha... ukyaa?!”

Kaguya shrieked and lost her balance mid-air.

She then fell quite a distance before her destination and engulfed into the pack of students.

“Gywaaaaa?!”

“Shiver. Kaguya!”

Yuzuru widened her eyes and called Kaguya’s name.

And — as if they are responding to her voice, all students stopped moving all of sudden.

Yuzuru thought for a moment that the students were responding to her voice... but she was
wrong.

The reason was known right away. A pungent smell is drifting from somewhere.

“W-what is this smell...”

The students knitted their eyebrows and pinched their nose. That is not surprising. The smell
went through their nostrils and induced nausea. If someone were to mix garbage, a dead body of
an animal, waste water in the middle of summer, then added a little bit of skunk’s fart, it might
smell like this. The shocking smell that could take away any appetite in a single breath.

Frightened at the smell, the students started covering their nose and mouth. While they were
doing that, someone walked through them and finished the purchases at the school store.
Few moments later, the pungent smell disappeared. The students who have lost their appetite
regained their appetite and started the scramble once again.

— Few minutes later.

“U... kyuuu...”

In front of the school store that already became sparse, Kaguya, who had few footsteps printed
on her back, made those miserable sounds while still lying down on the floor.

“Confirmation. Kaguya, are you okay?”

Yuzuru ran to her and lent her a hand. Kaguya took that hand and stood up, staggering. Even
though it was only a few minutes from earlier, she seemed worn-out for some reason.

“D-damn... what was that... did they do it because they knew I am the Maiden of Cyclones –
Yamai Kaguya...?!”

Even though she said that, those words only echoed around vacantly. Kaguya ground her teeth
and let out her breath.

“There is no choice... let’s first feed our stomach and heal our body. Yuzuru, let’s buy some
bread.”

“Agreement. Let’s do it.”

Kaguya walked staggeringly to the school store with Yuzuru supporting her.

However, their faces went gloom at the goods displayed on the shelf.

“Owner, don’t you have anything else?”

“Complaint. This is too horrible.”

That is understandable. After all, on the shelf that is nearly completely hunted down, only two
bags of bread crust remained. Even more, there is only a pack of jam left.

“I am sorry, but this is all?”

The store lady said with a calm voice as if the fierce battle scene earlier never happened. The two
were frustrated for a short while, but gave up in the end, paid the lady the money, and slowly
returned to Shidou.

However, on their way.

A little girl ran from their side and bumped into them.
“Ugu?!”

“Caution. Who are you.”

The two frown. The girl then raised her head and started shaking her shoulders.

“I-I am sorry, I am in a hurry...”

Said that, the girl made a crying face.

Seeing the girl’s weak looks, the Yamai sisters quickly calmed down. They let out a breath and
said “don’t worry” while waving their hands at her.

The two then returned to Shidou. Shidou made a wry smile at them unconsciously.

“That was quite a disaster...”

“S-shut up! This is only an accident! Our true abilities are not like this!”

“Anger. As Kaguya said. I can’t overlook any insult to Kaguya even if it was from Shidou.”

“N-no, I didn’t mean to insult her... Hey, wait, you two.”

Shidou noticed something strange and pointed to their hands.

“Where did you put the bread you bought just now?”

“What?”

“Question. What do you mean?”

The two then inclined their head while looking at their own hands and twisted their face in fear.

That is not surprising. The bag of crust of the bread in their hand until now is reduced to just the
tip of the bag they are holding with their finger.

“Wha... this is...”

“Puzzlement. Where is the bread...”

“— Fufu, fufufufu, fuhahahahaha!!”

While both two are looking around at their surroundings, such shrill laughter is heard from
somewhere.

“W-who?!”
The moment Kaguya shouted, someone jumped in front of her. The person placed his hands on
the floor and made a forward roll followed by two somersault and landed in front of her.

The person is a tall man with sharp eyes and his hair cut like a crest. For some reason his
uniform is torn off at his shoulder and both of his arms are covered with bandages. Furthermore,
a bag of Yakisoba bread and a fruit-flavored milk hang from his waist.

“Optimistic. How optimistic you are. Do you think you can use the school store with that level?”

“Huh...?”

While Shidou was still gaping at the situation, a man in white coat appeared from behind the
pillar. A scientist-looking slim man wearing round glasses. In his hand there is a ham-egg
sandwich and coffee milk.

“Well, let me welcome you. Welcome, new recruits, to our battlefield.”

He said that and turned his coat. Inside his coat, several test tubes with corks could be seen.

When everyone was making puzzled looks, another person appeared from behind the pillar.

She is a girl with a large plastic bag on her back like Santa Claus. Looking closer, the girl is the
student who bumped into the Yamai sisters earlier.

“Amazement. You are.”

When Yuzuru said that, the girl then made a scornful smile as if her weak appearance earlier was
made up.

“Kyahaha — you won’t be able to get any bread if you are like that.”

Said that, the girl then took the bread crust out of her plastic bag and played with it on her hands.

“That is!”

“Stare. Yuzuru and Kaguya’s bread crust.”

Kaguya and Yuzuru gave them hard stares and fixed their gazes.

“Damn you, who are you?!”

When Kaguya shouted, those three put up a bold smile on their face.

“Hmph... then let us introduce ourselves!”

The man with a crest-like haircut spread out his arms and lifted up his leg.
“Exceeding the mass with a flexible body and the legs that were hardened from the gymnastic
club. The noble of midair – ‘Gonna Fly If You Blown It’ <Aerial> Washitani Shunsuke! The
‘Supreme Masterpiece’ Favorite One is Yakisoba bread!”

“What is with that nickname? Also normally nobody said those things by themselves...”

Shidou frowned and narrowed his eyes.

However those three seemed unconcerned. Next, the glassed man in white coat pushed his
glasses then bent his body back taking a somewhat intelligent-looking pose.

“Misusing the science club’s budget to create a fragrance that took away everyone’s appetite!
The scent of death – ‘Stink Panic’ <Professor> Karasuma Keiji. The ‘Supreme Masterpiece’
Favorite One is a ham-egg sandwich.”

“What a nuisance you are...”

And finally, the girl with the plastic bag on her back made a pose.

“Put others off-guard with that cute look, then pickpocket the bread with lightning speed! The
wizard of bewilderment – ‘Oops I’m Sorry’ <Pickpocket> Saginuma Ayumi! The ‘Supreme
Masterpiece’ Favorite One is everything stolen from others!”

“Isn’t that a crime!”

“Kyahaha, don’t underestimate me — check your pocket!”

“What?”

Hearing that, Kaguya and Yuzuru then began searching their skirt’s pocket.

“Huh... there is money in it.”

“Amazement. This is the price of the bread crust.”

The threes purred their nose and gave signal to each other with their eyesight —

’— We are the Four Heavenly Kings of Raizen High School’s school store!!’

They declared themselves in loud voices after taking a deep breath.

... For some reason, Shidou felt they could get along well with the Yamai sisters (especially
Kaguya).

“Four Heavenly Kings... you said?”

Kaguya said with a thrilled voice. The three then made villainous smiles.

“Fufu, exactly. The strongest warriors who conquered the school store of Raizen High School.
That is us, Four Heavenly Kings!”

“Kukiki, that was some greetings for you new faces.”

“Kyahaha, but if you are this weak I don’t think you should come anymore?”

Four Heavenly Kings said and laughed. The Yamai sisters then gave them hard stares.

“Say what?! Are you trying to ridicule us Yamai, Maidens of Cyclones?!”

“Anger. I won’t forgive any insults.”

However, within that tense situation, Shidou could only scratch his cheek.

Although there are few things on his mind, there is one important thing he wanted to say to them.

“You said Four Heavenly Kings... but there are only three of you.”

However, this question seems to be within their expectations.

“Fufufu, ‘that person’ is the strongest of us. She doesn’t usually make any appearance!”

“Right. Nicknamed ‘Perfectionist’ <Miss Perfect>. The person full of mystery who always got
her hands on the bread without anyone realizing...”

“You who can’t even defeat us is no match for that person —”

The Four Heavenly Kings said in a ridiculing tone. When though Shidou didn’t feel anything, it
was different for the Yamai sisters. They grind their teeth in anger.

“Damn you, don’t you think you can go back just fine. You have to pay with your life for making
fun of us! Be stuck in the purgatory and regret your actions!”

“Declaration. We can no longer overlook your countless offenses. We are asking you for a
challenge.”

However, the Four Heavenly Kings are still smiling with allowances even when they are exposed
to the two’s penetrating stares.

“Fu... the battle for today has already ended. Don’t be such a bad loser.”

“Kukiki, however, I like that spirit of yours. We are the strongest. Before us, nobody could get
the bread they wanted.”
“I am always open for challenges? Let’s see, for the time...”

<Pickpocket> Saginuma looked at the calendar next to the store while saying that.

“Ara, what good timing. Next Monday, there will be a limited edition bread. It is Rainbow
Cream Bread for this month. How about... whoever is the first to get that will win?”

The Yamai sisters nodded at that sweet voice.

“Fine. The debt of the school store should be repaid with the school store. I’ll make you taste the
taste of bread crust!”

“Declaration. I will make you regret your words.”

Kaguya and Yuzuru pointed their fingers at them. After the three shrugged in pleasantness, they
looked at Shidou with a mocking sight.

“Fu... seems like you’ve for some well-spirited pupil, ‘No Reaction’ <Dispel>.”

“Kukiki, I heard you’ve fallen to the ignorant box lunch faction, but it seems like you still have
the pride of a school store warrior left within you.”

“But these girls won’t be any match to us?”

“What...?”

Shidou inclined his head at the unfamiliar nickname. However, there is no one else around him.

“M-me?”

“What are you saying? Of course, <Dispel>. One year ago, you easily escaped my mid-air attack,
escaped Karasuma’s death scent and escaped Saginuma’s pickpocket — and able to get your
Favorite One, the Katsu Sandwich. You were such a strong warrior.”

“Wait a minute, that is my first time hearing that.”

Shidou could not resist raising his voice. Even though he used the school store quite a few times
during the first year and Katsu Sandwich was his favorite, he couldn’t remember that name.

“Are you saying you have already forgotten the thrilling battle with us?”

“No, I mean...”

“Fu — it is fine if you want to play dumb.”

“Kukiki, however your pupil seems to be in full spirits.”

“Kyahaha, although it is a waste of time either way”

Even though Shidou tried to hold them on, they wouldn’t listen to his story until the end. The
Four Heavenly Kings made a villain laugh while walking off down the corridor.

Kaguya stared at them until they completely disappeared and stamped down on the floor.

“Damn! Making a fool of us! I’ll let them see!”

“Agreement. I won’t let them say the same the second time. — However, it is also the fact that
Yuzuru and Kaguya lose. In order to clean up our names, special training is required.”

“Special training...”

Said that, Kaguya and Yuzuru looked at Shidou.

Shidou felt a sweat floating everywhere in his face at the bad feeling that went through his body.

The next day. September 2nd. Saturday.

“Yawn...”

Shidou yawned. He is currently wearing a jersey with a headband on his head and bamboo sword
in his hand.

Of course, he did not dress like this because he wanted to.

Thanks to that nickname he doesn’t know anything about, Shidou has been asked by the Yamai
sisters as the coach for their special training.

“Even though I thought the normal uniform is fine too...”

Shidou is currently in a hall surrounded by a gray wall. The virtual training space inside the
mid-air ship <Fraxinus>.

By using the Realizer with equipment within the ship, it will allow them to recreate any kind of
environment. Kotori offered to let them use this room for the special training.

While Shidou is still trying hard to resist his drowsiness, two unique speaking voices could be
heard.

“Kuku, how pitiful. I see you still can’t escape from the spell of Hypnos.”

“Greeting. Good morning.”

Seems like they had also arrived. Shidou looked the way the voices come from while rubbing his
eyes —

“Right... Good mor — ?!”

He froze for a split second.

After all, the uniform they both are currently wearing is the infamous near-extinct Bloomer-type
gym clothes.
The label “Kaguya” and “Yuzuru” are written on their chest on their white uniform, under that is
the Bloomer — the longing of all high school boys of the present age. Incidentally, while Kaguya
left her shirt on top of the bloomer, Yuzuru tucked her shirt inside it.

“Hmp? I don’t know why, but it seems like you are now awake.”

“Detection. Shidou’s sight seems more intense than usual.”

“Kaka. It means he is that spirited. Isn’t that a good thing.”

“Question. Is it that so.”

Kaguya laughed broadly but Yuzuru inclined her head. Shidou averted his eyes from them and
continued.

“You two, what is with that uniform...”

“Ah, this one? Kotori prepared them for us. From what I heard, it seems to be the traditional
training uniform of this country.”

“Evaluation. It is really easy to move in this cloth. I especially like the mobility of the legs.”

“...Is that so.”

Shidou scratched his cheek. If they like it, then Shidou doesn’t really mind.

“Then, Shidou. Let’s start our training. In order to defeat those people!”

“Petition. Please take good care of us. I won’t ever forget the taste of that jam.”

Saying that, they both nodded with determination.

After the battle yesterday, Kaguya and Yuzuru rejected Shidou’s offer to share his boxed lunch
with them and instead opted to suck the leftover jam with their fingers to stave off their
starvation. They said by tasting the taste of defeat, they could better sharpen their fangs for
revenge.

Shidou made an empty laugh and looked at them.

“...So in short, you just have to evade their obstacles and buy the bread, don’t you?”

“That’s right. Also, if we could give those blasphemers a humiliation they could never forget for
their entire life, that would be great.”

“Agreement. What should we do?”

They both nodded. Shidou took out a notebook from his pocket.

The result of the discussion with Reine yesterday was a relatively simple method.

“Er... first —”

Shidou explained to them the method to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings in order in simple
words.

“Hmm... I see.”

“Understanding. I understand.”

The Yamai sisters nodded. Shidou closed his notebook and put it inside his pocket.

“Well, like that. If you pay attention to those points, it should be okay.”

“Fumu. Then, what should we do?”

“Eh?”

Shidou raised a shrill voice at Kaguya’s question.

“Verify. Let me ask again. What kind of training Yuzuru and Kaguya should take from now?”

“No... to be honest, I don’t think that is necessary.”

Shidou said while frowning. It was not a lie, nor was it an excuse because he doesn’t want to
help them with the training, but it was simply the fact that he thought.

“Well, if you think about it, even though your spirit powers are sealed, your physical ability is far
above normal humans. Yesterday was just a surprise attack, there is no way you will lose if you
prepare for it. Also, even you said training, nothing will dramatically changed —”

“What are you saying!”

Shidou’s words are interrupted by Kaguya’s yell.

“We lost to them once! In order to overturn that, there is no choice but to throw ourselves into
the hell of training and be reborn as the New Yamai!”

“Agreement. The new skills of the main character are always obtained after harsh training in the
middle of the story.”
Kaguya and Yuzuru pleaded enthusiastically. Seems like they just want to do the training
regardless of the results... Come to think of it, Kotori said the Yamai sisters got hooked to a
Shounen Manga back during summer break.

“O-okay, I understand.”

Shidou stopped them before they could approach him and thought up a training program.

“Ah... well, let’s do some warm-up exercises with running.”

The moment Shidou said that, the noise ran through the wall and the scenery around them turned
into a high plateau in an instant.

“O-ohh?!”

Shidou widened his eyes. So this is the function of the virtual training space.

Kaguya and Yuzuru also looked around in surprise and then nodded.

“Kuku... a lightning run, huh. That’s fine. First is a warm-up.”

“Affirmative. I understand. Kaguya, a race.”

“No, even when I said running, I didn’t mean for you to race...”

Even though Shidou said that, those two don’t take any notice. Seems like even after they could
get along with each other, that still doesn’t change how they like to compete.

After some small stretch exercise, they both started running.

“Doryaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Run. Tou.”

They both started with a sprint and circled around Shidou side-by-side with a speed that of a
short-distance running.

However, even though they are spirits, there is no way they could continue that forever. Not
before long, their speed started declining — and Yuzuru collapsed down to the ground with her
face down.

“Li... mit... Uku... u...”

“Ya... haha... I... won —”

Shortly after, Kaguya also collapsed down to the ground.

“H-hey, you two!”

After a few moments, the Yamai sisters raised up after they caught their breath.

“Kuku... seems like I won this match.”

“Regret. As expected from you, Kaguya.”

“No, well, I have an advantage over you for this match. It is amazing how Yuzuru could stick
this far.”

“Question. What is the advantage.”

“...Well, you don’t have to care.”

Even though Shidou noticed Kaguya glanced at Yuzuru’s weighty breast for a split moment
while saying those words, he decided not to say anything in order to not get into trouble.

“A-anyway, I won! You understand, Yuzuru?”

“Resignation. Ku... there is no choice. The first piece...”

“...The first piece? What are you talking about?”

When Shidou inclined his head, Kaguya came near him with a smile on her face and held the
scruff of his neck to force him to look away from Yuzuru.

“Ouch, what are you doing, Kaguya!”

“Kuku... just keep quiet and wait. You will see something nice.”

“Huh...? What are you trying to...”

When Shidou frowned, a sound of clothes rustling was heard from his back.

“Hey, what Yuzuru is doing?”

“Well, we talked a bit earlier. Since we need some tension in our training, we agreed that the one
who loses will have to undress a piece of cloth each time.”

“Huh... whaaaaat?! W-wait a minute, why are you doing that! Before that, with your current
clothes, it is fatal if you undress even one piece of it —”

“Done. It is okay now.”

Before Shidou could finish his sentence, Yuzuru’s voices could be heard from his back.
Kaguya turned back ahead of Shidou and smiled with “Hohou...”.

“Shidou, look at her.”

“Wait, I still haven’t prepared myself...”

Kaguya turned Shidou’s head to Yuzuru like she did earlier.

Yuzuru is standing there with her cheek in red of embarrassment. However, Shidou couldn’t tell
what changed at a glance.

Not long, Shidou noticed something out of place. In Yuzuru’s hand, she is holding a large-size
bra within it.

When looking closer, Shidou feels as if Yuzuru’s breast size was larger than a few moments ago.
The “Yuzuru” label on her breasts swayed heavily whenever Yuzuru made any movement.

“Wha...?!”

“Kaka, how was it, Shidou. You can’t get enough of it, can you? The beast is rampaging after it
has been released from the bindings.”

Kaguya said in a pleasant voice while Shidou’s face turned red.

“W-why from the inside...”

“Explanation. I have been taught that this is the etiquette.”

“It was Reine-san who taught you, wasn’t it?!”

Shidou yelled, but Yuzuru didn’t seem to mind. Yuzuru held her breast and approached Shidou.

“Idea. Shidou, I have a request for the next training.”

“...Request? What is it?”

“Answer. The training of endurance... in other words, waterfall training.”

“Waterfall training... is it that training where you stand under a waterfall? But there’s no —”

Before Shidou could finish his words, the noise running through their surroundings and the
scenery had changed into a waterfall in the middle of the mountain.

Furthermore, when Shidou tried touching it, he could feel the cold. Seems like the water is real.

“Haha, anything goes, huh...”

While Shidou smiled wryly, Kaguya stepped forward.

“Kuku... well, I don’t really mind. In short, the one who stays longer wins, isn’t it?”

“Affirmative. That is the case.”

After Kaguya and Yuzuru exchanged their glances, they entered the waterfall without any
hesitation.

“H-hey wait! You can’t do that! Especially Yuzuru!”

“Kyaa!”

“Amazement. ... This is colder than I thought.”

However, it looks like their match has already begun. They gritted their teeth and stood still with
their hands joined together in front of them like an ascetic monk.

“Wait...”

Shidou averted his eyes.

It’s not strange that he did. Since they entered the waterfall with such light clothes, their gym
clothes are now transparent and stuck to their skin.

It might be okay for Kaguya who still has a bra on, but Shidou can’t look at Yuzuru. Shidou’s
face turned completely red as if a steam was coming out of his head and averted his eyes.

“Ugu...”

“Endurance...”

The two held up for a while, but started shivering before long.

“Ahh, I-I-I-I am at my l-l-l-limits...!”

Finally, Kaguya whose lips had turned pale ran out from below the waterfall while holding both
of her shoulders.

“A-are you okay?!”

Shidou wrapped Kaguya in a bath towel that he prepared during their match. Kaguya kept
shivering and squatted down on the ground.

“Vic... tory. Y-Y-Y-Y-Yuzuru w-w-w-won this m-m-m-match.”

Yuzuru said those words while approaching her, her shivering teeth making her unable to speak
properly. Like earlier, Shidou then wrapped Yuzuru with a bath towel.

The next moment, the scenery once again changed back into a high plateau. A warm breeze is
blown from somewhere.

After their bodies warmed up, both of them raised their faces.

“Kunu... as expected from my other half. Well done.”

“Praise. This match was the opposite of our previous match. Yuzuru has more subcutaneous fat,
so it was my advantage. Applause for Kaguya who could go that far.”

“Uguu...”

Kaguya twisted her face in frustration. However, she then let out a breath to change her mood
and stood up while fluttering her bath towel.

“...I have no choice. A promise is a promise. Can you turn back?”

“Well, you don’t really have to...”

“I can’t just run away if Yuzuru did it!”

Kaguya flat-out said so and made Shidou and Yuzuru turn away.

Just like earlier, the sound of clothes rustling is heard... Shidou feels a very naughty scene is
being expanded on the back of him and catches his breath without realizing. Yuzuru next to him
gave him a look in half-opened eyes with a “Sigh. Pervert.” message.

“...It is okay now. I will allow you to look at me.”

“O-okay...”

Shidou turned back timidly.

As expected, Kaguya who is standing over there doesn’t seem to have any visible changes,
except in her hand, just like when Yuzuru did it, there is a —

“Wait, that one is different?!”

Shidou shouted in surprise. The object in Kaguya’s hand is not a bra, but for the lower body —
in other words, a panty.

“One piece! You don’t have anything to complain about, do you!”

“Assent. Nice thinking, Kaguya.”

Yuzuru nodded at her in admiration while folding her arms.

“H-hey, you two...”

“Guidance. Shidou, please look at Kaguya carefully. Even though her appearance didn’t change,
the other side of that piece of cloth is full of dreams. You can’t have enough of it, can you?”

“U... gu...”

Yuzuru bent her body near Shidou and whispered those words to him. Shidou’s cheeks turned red
at his imagination and the cool touch of Yuzuru’s body.

Noticing their behavior, Kaguya opened her mouth.

“Let me decide the next match, and let me enjoy that embarrassing look of Yuzuru!”

“Rejection. It is Yuzuru who will win the next match. I will enjoy the looks of Kaguya shivering
in embarrassment.”

Said that, both then exchanged a glance ... Even though they could get along well now, Shidou
feels they’re loving each other a little bit too much.

However, if Shidou left them alone, they would definitely cause some trouble. Shidou shook his
head.

“S-stop! I will decide on the next training! Okay?! I’m your coach!”

When Shidou declared that in a loud voice, Kaguya and Yuzuru looked at him with interested
eyes.

“F-from now on is an individual training program! Let’s see... for the time being, Kaguya, you
do sit-ups! Yuzuru, you do push-ups! 100 times each!”

Shidou instructed them, however they only twisted their faces in dissatisfaction.

“What? Different programs? There’s no way to decide who will win or lose.”

“Appeal. And with those limits, there is a chance that both of us could accomplish it.”

However, in fact, those are exactly Shidou’s intentions.

If the program is not the same, then there is no way to judge who wins or loses. In other words,
they can’t undress their clothes anymore.
“Don’t lose your goal. What is this training for again? You want to win those Four Heavenly
Kings, don’t you?”

“Mu...”

“Thinking...”

They both fall into silence at Shidou’s words.

... Even though he is the man who said “training is not necessary” earlier, they both could
honestly accept his advice. Although they were reluctant, they nodded to him in the end.

“...It is as you said. Yuzuru is so cute I can’t resist not teasing her.”

“Regret. Yuzuru as well. I couldn’t constrain myself at Kaguya’s cuteness.”

Kaguya and Yuzuru looked at each other and nodded firmly.

“Well then! Let’s do it, Yuzuru!”

“Affirmative. Okay, Kaguya.”

They both nodded at each other. Shidou feels reassured at their reaction.

However, for some reason, they both still were not lying down on the floor for the exercise, but
kept standing in front of him.

“...What’s wrong, you two?”

“Aa, the load is not enough for a normal sit-up, so what about I entwine my legs around your
stomach, Shidou? I could definitely strengthen my muscles this way.”

“Idea. The tension is not enough for normal push-ups. How about Shidou lying down on your
back on the floor and let Yuzuru do push-ups on top of that? The tension of Yuzuru failing
allowing Shidou to do anything to Yuzuru’s body will effectively —”

“R-Rejected!”

Shidou shouted and ordered them a number of extra sit-ups and push-ups.

The next week. September 4th. Lunch break.

The front of the school store, although not as much as last week, was filled with students.
Everyone threw themselves into the battlefield in such a tight space to get the bread they wanted.
However, Shidou and the Yamai sisters are not participating in that battle. They are looking at a
certain space.

— At the showy-looking three persons in front of them.

“Hmp... so you didn’t run away, <Dispel> and the pupils. Let me at least praise that courage of
yours.”

“Kukiki, but that is reckless. Just regret your own incompetence with the bread crust.”

“Kyahaha, that is no good, even if it is a bread crust, I am gonna steal it from you.”

The Four Heavenly Kings made a darling smile and confronted the Yamai sisters.

Kaguya and Yuzuru fixed their eyes on them.

“Kuku, let me return those words back to you. I will make you regret opposing us Yamai!”

“Opposition. As Kaguya said. We won’t lose today.”

Hearing that, <Aerial> Washitani pushed his forehead.

“Good. There are only 20 packs of the limited bread. The stock should be low right now. —Well
then, let’s start!”

With those words, the Yamai sisters and Four Heavenly Kings kicked the floor.

Even still, if they don’t do something to the crowd in front of the store, there is no way they
could reach their hands on the bread.

“Kaguya! Yuzuru! Plan A!”

When Shidou gave them an instruction from the outer edge of the battlefield, Kaguya and Yuzuru
gave him a thumbs-up without facing back.

“Preparation. Kaguya!”

“Right!”

Yuzuru joined her hands, Kaguya then used that as a foothold for her jump.

Seeing that, Washitani who is running in parallel with them twisted the corner of his lip.

“Fu, isn’t that exactly the same as before!”

He used the back of a nearby student as a foothold and jumped to Kaguya.

“Secret Arts – Icarus Fa —”

“Now! Yuzuru!”

Shidou raised his voice when Washitani tried to hit Kaguya mid-air with his body.

“Affirmative. I understand.”

Suddenly Yuzuru who is kneeling down to the floor started running and jumped into the air —

“Attack. Eiya”

With that unexcited voice, Yuzuru kicked up her right reg — toward Washitani’s stomach.

“Augh...?!”

Washitani yelled in anguish, however, their attack didn’t stop there.

“Kuku... time for your fall, former king.”

Kaguya twisted her body mid-air and performed an axe kick toward the back of Washitani’s
head.

Washitani’s body that is receiving both kick up and axe kick at the same time spinning down, and
stuck to the floor. His feet cramped up a little.

“Ku... Washitani is defeated?!”

“Wha... B-but don’t get carried away! Washitani is the weakest of us Four Heavenly Kings!”

Said that, <Pickpocket> Saginuma then made a kinda refreshing face. Seems like she always
wanted to say that line.

However, they still cannot let down their guard. There are still two of the Four Heavenly Kings
left.

“Take this! My death scent!”

<Professor> Karasuma spread out his coat and put several test tubes between his fingers on both
hands.

Seeing his actions, Shidou raised his voice.

“You two! Plan B!”

’!!’
Kaguya and Yuzuru who have landed on the floor immediately equipped the goggles hanging on
their waist after hearing Shidou’s words.

When the surroundings began to be scented with the pungent smell, other students started to
frown their faces. However, the Yamai sisters kept calm as if nothing happened. Of course, the
goggles on their faces are the type that covered their noses, like the one used for diving.

“What...!”

Karasuma raised a voice brim of confusion and changed his face into astonishment.

The Yamai sisters closed on Karasuma and snatched those test tubes emitting the smell from his
hands —

“Kuku, if you like the smell that much...”

“Laughter. We will let you smell it forever.”

They then made a devilish smile and poured the liquid in the test tube onto his neck.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

After screaming in such agony, Karasuma collapsed down to the floor. The pungent smell in the
surrounding area got even stronger.

“Aw...”

Shidou frowned in pity. Even though he doesn’t know what that liquid is composed of, the smell
would probably remain for quite some time.

“Ku... you two! How miserable! If it had come to this then I —”

Saginuma said, trying to sneak up on the Yamai sisters.

However, the two simply stared her down, and she stopped right away.

The reason was simple.

Yesterday, when Shidou explained the plans for the encounter with the Four Heavenly Kings to
the two, Saginuma’s was the simplest one.

To explain it simply...”just try to not get robbed.”

Pickpocketing the bread requires one to be caught off-guard. Thus, if the Yamai sisters simply
pay attention to that, the success rate will drop dramatically.
Now, no one will get in the way of the Yamais. They hold the 500 yen coin in their hand and
walk to the front of the store, pushing aside the students. But —

“Washitani! Attack <Dispel>!”

Once Saginuma’s voice was heard from the back, Washitani, who was supposed to be crouching
down to the floor, held him from his back.

“What...!”

Kaguya and Yuzuru turned back, noticing Shidou’s voice and distorting their faces in horror.

When Saginuma saw their faces, she made a vicious smile.

“That’s right. It is <Dispel> who is giving them the instructions. We should be attacking him
instead. — Karasuma!”

Being led by Saginuma’s calling, Karasuma who is drifting with a stinking smell rose up.

“Ku... kiki... now that it has come to this, I will soak everything in this stinking smell! I wonder
if you can stay no reaction when I rub you in the face, ‘No Reaction’ <Dispel>!”

He said that (with a twang) and approached Shidou like a zombie. Every step he took caused the
stinking smell to assault Shidou.

“U-uwaaaaaa!”

Shidou couldn’t resist, and shouted.

“You all...!”

“Anger. How dirty.”

Kaguya and Yuzuru distorted their faces in anger. However, they are already surrounded by other
students. Even though they wanted to return to Shidou, no doubt Shidou would get hugged by
<Professor> before they could get back to him.

“Hey, you should also become as smelly as me!”

“Uwa! E-eek...”

’Shidou!’

The moment Kaguya and Yuzuru simultaneously shouted Shidou’s name.

“Eh — ?”
A gust of wind blew all over the surroundings.

After a moment of floating, the view before Shidou’s eyes started spinning and his body was
slammed into the wall. The next moment, a dull pain ran through his body.

“Aww...”

He opened his eyes.

The view before him is a very strange one.

Centered from Kaguya and Yuzuru who were taking each other’s hands, the students all
collapsed down to the floor. The bread is all blown away and there are a few broken windows.

Seems like some of their spirit powers that had been sealed flowed back to them in response to
their intensity of emotion. After all, they were originally a spirit of wind who caused a lot of
casualties around the world.

“Are you okay, Shidou?”

“Worry. Are you okay?”

They both walked to Shidou then removed their goggles and started smelling Shidou’s body.
They then reached out their hands to Shidou with relief.

“Ha... haa... thanks.”

Shidou stood up with their help and said with a wry smile.

However, for them right now, they have an even more important thing to do. Once they shook
their shoulders, they ran to the school store.

“Store lady, please give us the limited bread!”

“Petition. Please do.”

Even though the Four Heavenly Kings were still conscious, it seems like they can’t stand up
right now. They looked at the Yamai sisters’ orders, frustrated.

That was the moment of victory. Shidou gripped his fist tight, but—

“I’m sorry, but the limited bread on the shelf was all blown away just now.”

The story lady said with as calm a voice as usual.

“W... what?!”
“Horror. That can’t be...”

Kaguya and Yuzuru looked around their surroundings and slumped their shoulders.

The Four Heavenly Kings who are still collapsing down to the floor then laughed weakly at their
looks.

“Fu... fu... how unfortunate.”

“Kukiki, so it ended with a tie.”

“Kyahaha, then —”

Suddenly — The Four Heavenly Kings stopped laughing.

There is only one possible reason.

From the stairway, there is an approaching footsteps.

“D-don’t tell me...”

“This footsteps is —”

“<Miss Perfect> ...?!”

“Eh...?”

Hearing the voice of those three, Shidou looked in the direction of those footsteps.

<Miss Perfect>. Shidou remembered that name. Those three said she is the strongest of all Four
Heavenly Kings.

And she — is now approaching here.

The footsteps come nearer and nearer, and her appearance could be seen.

That face is —

“...Origami?”

Shidou said, frowning.

That’s right. The person coming down from the stairs is Tobiichi Origami.

“<Miss Perfect>!”

“It has been a long time...!”


”I never thought you’d appear...!”

However, the other Four Heavenly Kings looked up to her brimming with emotion. Seems like
Shidou did not mistake her for someone else, but Origami is actually the <Miss Perfect> those
three said.

“Origami... you are the last of the Four Heavenly Kings?”

When Shidou asked that, Origami let out her breath.

“They called me that on their own.”

“I see...”

Shidou guessed the situation and smiled bitterly.

However, the Four Heavenly Kings didn’t notice Origami’s reaction and raised their voices
trying to cling to her.

“Please, <Miss Perfect>!”

“Take revenge for us...!”

“If it were you... maybe you can do something even with this situation...!”

“...”

Origami ignored the words of those three and talked to the store lady.

“Pardon me.”

“Ah, here it is. The bread you reserved.”

Said that, the store lady then handed her bread (with a ‘LIMITED!’ clearly written on it) she kept
on the back of the shelf.

’What...?!’

Shidou, the Yamai sisters and even the Four Heavenly Kings were surprised.

“R-reservation...?”

“Amazement. I never thought you could do that...”

Origami simply walked past the Yamai sisters, limited bread in her hands.
However, the Four Heavenly Kings recovered earlier than them and, completely unlike earlier,
laughed triumphantly.

“Fu-fuhahaha! Seems like us Four Heavenly Kings win this contest!”

“Ku-kukiki! That’s right! Have you seen the ability of <Miss Perfect>!”

“Kyahaha! Although it didn’t sound right to me, it certainly was our winning!”

Origami, not wanting to be involved with them, continued walking without making any reaction.
Yamai sisters grind their teeth in disappointment.

“Damn, damn! Even though we put in that much effort...!”

“Bitter. Kaguya, please calm down. Let’s beat them next month.”

“...”

Seeing their reaction, Shidou scratched his cheek.

For some reason, he’d feel annoyed if it ended like this.

“...Hey, Origami.”

That’s why Shidou called her when Origami was going to walk past him.

“If it’s okay, can we have that bread...?”

“Why?”

“Well... a little bit of circumstances. It might not be worth it but, I will exchange my boxed lunch
with —”

“Here.”

Before Shidou could finish his sentence, Origami handed him the bread.

’... What?!’

The faces of the Four Heavenly Kings who were enjoying their winning immediately froze.

“Is it okay...?”

“Yes. In exchange.”

“S-sure, it is inside my bag. That’s now yours.”

“...”

Origami heard that and nodded without saying anything then skipped upstairs to the classroom.

“What... I can’t believe you could snatch the bread from <Miss Perfect>...”

The Four Heavenly Kings said in a confusing voice.

“As expected from the man who tumbled and evaded my mid-air attack and hit my crotch with
your head one year ago...”

“So this means his ability to catch a cold in his nose in order to escape from my death scent was
not just for show...!”

“I shouldn’t underestimate the man who made me pickpocket the dummy trash instead of the
bread...!”

“...Isn’t that all a coincidence?”

So that’s why he has been given the nickname. Shidou dropped his shoulders listlessly.

Few seconds later, Yuzuru and Kaguya, who finally understood what’s going on, ran to Shidou.

“Shidou! You did it!”

“Praise. You did it in the end.”

“Well, it’s kinda dirty play though.”

However, for the Yamai sisters, the fact that their comrade was able to get the bread is important.
Kaguya hugged Shidou with a broad smile and Yuzuru happily leaned herself toward him.

Shidou made a bitter smile and handed the Rainbow Cream Bread to them.

“Good job. — Here, divide it between you two.”

’... ‘

However, the Yamai sisters who received the bread from him simply stared quietly at it, then
took the bread from its package and divided it into three pieces.

They then gave the middle piece to Shidou.

“Eh?”

“Kuku... I’m indebted for your work this time. Let me give you a reward.”
“Gratitude. Our winning is because of Shidou. Please accept it.”

Shidou was surprised for a moment... then raised the corner of his lip and accepted the bread.

“I see. As you wish, then.”

“Umu. What about doing a toast to our winning?”

“Consent. Let me borrow your hand.”

“Toast?”

While Shidou is still inclining his head, Kaguya and Yuzuru simply touched their bread to the
bread still in Shidou’s hand.

Seeing Kaguya and Yuzuru’s satisfied looks, Shidou bit into the bread.
Kurumi Star Festival

“It’s... really crowded here huh.”

Shidou walked leisurely while looking at the streets on his left and right. Reflected in his eyes
was the shopping district that was more lively than usual. That was to be expected, that’s because
today is the seventh day of the seventh month. An annual festival known as Tanabata,
shopkeepers who love holidays like these the most would of course not let such a chance to make
a roaring business escape, they have already raised quite an excitement in the district long ago.

Open air stalls have long been set up on both sides of the street, not only were there takoyaki and
yakisoba that are said to be indispensable in festivals, the various items on sale were also
extremely appealing. There was no end to the flow of visitors, resulting in the entire district
being packed with people. Shidou was not the kind of person to feel excited from festivals,
however it was different when he is placed in a location where there are stalls everywhere.
Although the festive spirit would not cause the price of the goods to fall, it will however cause
the stall owners to start some off-record advertising that would be beneficial to those that visit.

Since the arrival of the gourmand Tohka, the cost of meals of the Itsuka residence have been
under the subsidization of <Ratatoskr>, but the amount and quality of food aside, to resolve their
daily meals at the lowest cost possible—as the sole person in charge of the Itsuka residence’s
kitchen, that was Shidou’s important mission. At this moment, Shidou felt pitiful as he became
aware that he was displaying an aura of a mature housekeeping husband...

However it is pointless for him to complain about it now. Shidou let out his depressed feelings
with a huge sigh, after which he revealed a face of that of a housewife that was just about to go
and hunt for bargains in the district. It was an usual everyday event for Shidou. After this Shidou
would only need to go to the stores that he commonly frequents as usual, chat with the
enthusiastic storekeepers for a while before carrying the groceries back home and make dinner
for the girls back home. —At least that was how it was supposed to be. However, at that
moment.

“Eh—?”

At the edge of his vision, on the opposite side of the street, Shidou spotted something out of the
ordinary.

“Wha...”

At the same time, before his brain could register what that existence was, Shidou’s body
stiffened, as though he had been frozen to the spot. On the other side of the wide sea of people
that filled the shopping district. A young girl wearing a black one-piece dress, stood there. Long
hair that just happened to rest on her shoulders, a slender figure, the left side of her face was
covered by her fringe akin to that of a waterfall, exposing her right eye that seemed to be
unfathomable as a black hole as well as lips that were as delicate as sakura petals. With all that
beauty, there was a devilish-like charm capable of enslaving men the moment eye contact was
made.

However—that was not the case. The reason why Shidou was so shocked till the point that he
was unable to move for a few seconds, was not just because of the girl’s looks.

“Kurumi—Tokisaki...?”

Shidou said the girl’s name with a shocked tone, at the same time, swallowing his saliva to
relieve his dry throat. —Kurumi Tokisaki. The girl who had transferred into Shidou’s class
roughly a month ago, who had also intended to [devour] Shidou, the spirit who had planned to
take the power of the spirits sealed inside of him for herself was the very girl in front of his eyes,
Kurumi Tokisaki. Possessing a brutal and competitive personality, she was different from Tohka
and Yoshino who unintentionally cause spacequakes which endangers human lives, Tokisaki
Kurumi had killed countless humans out of her own free will... she was also known as—[the
most dangerous Spirit].

Not too long ago she had lost her left arm and part of her Angel after suffering a hit from
Kotori’s attack, her whereabouts have been unknown since then. However the one in front of his
eyes right now, her left arm was unharmed and intact.

“...Eh.”

Shidou couldn’t help but rub his eyes. It was probably just to reassure himself, but he had a small
wish that he had seen wrongly. After that Shidou blinked his eyes a few times, when he turned
back to look at the street once more... The black figure of the girl was already gone.

“W-what’s with that... so it was my imagination after all—”

“—Good evening, Shidou-san.”

“Uwah?!”

Before Shidou could even manage to heave a sigh of relief, a voice suddenly called out to him
from behind, causing him to jump. After that, he hastily turned around, standing right there, was
the girl who had been on the other side of the street just a few minutes before.

“Kurumi...?!”
“Yes, it has been a while, Shidou-san.”

Saying that, Kurumi revealed an intoxicating smile, lifting her skirt slightly and bent her knees,
she bowed to Shidou. Shidou on the other hand was forcing his erratic heartbeat to calm down,
he firmly stared into Kurumi’s visible right eye before inquiring.

“W-why are you... in a place like this?”

If he was maintaining contact with Kotori like he usually did, he would most likely be lectured
for uttering such a pointless question. The corner of Kurumi’s lips slowly rose, she gazed at
Shidou’s face, replying to his question in a whisper.

“Isn’t that obvious—I am here to meet with Shidou-san of course.”

“...!”

Shidou immediately held his breath, hastily stepping back at the same time. Kurumi came to
meet Shidou. That means— her goal is to... However, as a normal human of flesh and blood, it is
impossible to escape from Kurumi’s clutches, Shidou understands this fact very well. Although
there are humans as far as one could see surrounding the two of them, but to Kurumi who is a
Spirit, she probably would not care about being seen by eyewitnesses. No... in the worst case
scenario, if she wanted to, she could abduct everybody including Shidou into the shadows,
picking him out after that would be an extremely simple task. With his thoughts up to this point,
Shidou gritted his teeth as he looked back at Kurumi. Due to the irregular existence before his
eyes, a normal everyday scene has now transformed into one with a bleak future with a blink of
an eye. What exactly should he do to—

“...?”

But, at that moment, Kurumi suddenly reached out her arm, holding Shidou’s hand with her own.

“Fufu... hey, Shidou-san?”

Kurumi’s face had an enchanting smile, her fingers slowly wrapped around Shidou’s hand. That
expression of hers, it was as though she had seen through Shidou’s thoughts, a chill went down
his spine. Alas, he had tried everything he had, Shidou thought to himself, faced with such a dire
situation it looks like he was all out of options.

However—Kurumi said something that was entirely out of his expectations, as though ignoring
the despair that has clouded Shidou’s heart.

“—May we go out on a date? Right now?”

Kurumi pulled on Shidou’s hand while moving her lips near his ear, she whispered to him.
“Ha...?”

Faced with this unexpected invitation, Shidou couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

“Kurumi, wh, what did you say just now...?”

“Fufu, really now Shidou-san, requesting a girl to say such words a second time, you really are
insensitive.”

Saying that, Kurumi tilted her head mischievously to one side.

“A... date?”

“That’s right, I just want to go out and play with Shidou-san, can’t I?”

“No, it’s just...”

Shidou was speechless. Kurumi had proactively invited him on a date. —From a normal
viewpoint, this was an extremely dangerous situation. However, Shidou was hesitant as well. He
would be lying if he said that he was not afraid of Kurumi. After all she was a malicious Spirit
who had murdered countless humans before, if she wished to decapitate Shidou, it would be but
a simple task for her to do so. Even so, deep down inside Shidou’s heart, there was a strong urge
to converse with Kurumi once more, an urge to get her to confide in him. This feeling overrode
his fear of death.

“...”

However, in response to Shidou’s silence, Kurumi seemed to have misinterpreted something.

“Ara ara, it seems that Shidou-san is still doubting me... How lamentable, but it can’t be helped.
No matter who it is, they probably would not want to go on a date with someone who had
attempted to kill them before. However—”

Midway through her sentence, Kurumi bent forward slightly, gazing up at Shidou with a humble
expression while continuing her words.

“Please be at ease, I came here with no intention of doing any harm to Shidou-san for today. If
you really do not trust me no matter what I do, it is alright to use chains to restrain my hands or
even wrapping a bomb around my throat is fine too you know?”

“No no no, how could I do that to you...”

Upon noticing Shidou’s fluster, Kurumi widened her eyes as though she was acting in a play, she
hid her face with her hands displaying a posture of dismay.
“Then that means, Shidou-san just hates me and isn’t willing to go out with me? Sob sob, I’m so
sad, I feel like I am going to cry.”

“Eh...! I said nothing of the sort!”

“Waa—”

“Hey hey hey...”

Shidou scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression. It was obvious that Kurumi
was acting suspiciously. Of course, in Kurumi’s case, she could very well be just playing a prank
on him... But for some reason, the atmosphere that Kurumi was currently giving out was
somehow different from that of the most dangerous spirit he had met weeks before.

Furthermore... Kurumi did say before that she has no intention of harming Shidou today. It was
only a verbal promise, she could go back on her word at any time, there was no way to ascertain
that she would keep her promise. However, for as long as Shidou could remember, although
Kurumi’s words often had a hidden meaning behind them, she would occasionally speak in a
roundabout way but she has never gone back on her word before.

Most importantly, the current situation still remains extremely dangerous for him, if he were to
reject her invitation now, making her unhappy, that would spell digging his own grave. Before he
could even utter “I’m sorry.”, he probably would have been dragged into the shadows by several
arms.

“...Alright then, I’ll go on a date with you.”

Once Shidou said that, Kurumi’s expression instantly brightened.

“Really?”

Kurumi’s feelings of jubilation could be felt from not just her expressions but her words as well,
just like a blooming flower that had nothing to hide, Shidou couldn’t help but be surprised at
this. Although he had already thought up some countermeasures for the various situations that
may happen... but he was at a loss upon witnessing her behaving like this.

“Fufu, I’m so happy, Shidou-san really is a gentle person.”

Kurumi happily chirped while reaching out and hugging Shidou’s arm.

“Wah! K-Kurumi?! Wh...”

The sudden turn of events, caused Shidou to cry out in surprise, blushing furiously like a maiden
in love. Despite the fact that she was the most dangerous spirit, Kurumi still looked like a frail
girl. If she made such a bold action all of a sudden, as a healthy highschool boy, how could
Shidou handle her?

“Um, I say, isn’t this a little too intimate...?”

“Is that so?”

However, Kurumi merely smiled at Shidou’s fluster, sticking closer to Shidou.

“I don’t see any problem—, after all we are on a date right now. Fufu, for the moment... only for
this moment, Shidou-san is my man. Or are you saying... that you are feeling disgusted, with me
hugging your arm like this?”

Kurumi asked in a depressed voice, this caused an unexplainable sense of guilt to form in
Shidou’s heart, he couldn’t help but groan as he frowned.

“That’s not it, I won’t push you away...”

“Is that so. Fufu, then let’s hurry up and go.”

Saying that, Kurumi started walking ahead. Under the lead of her petite figure, Shidou was
half-pulled into the bustling streets.

—Tanabata. Just like Hikoboshi and Orihime who are separated by the vast Milky Way. Wading
through the wide streets, weaving past the dense human crowd— The youth and the maiden,
finally meet once more.

“...Umm, Kurumi. You said that this was a date, but where on earth are we headed?”

After walking for an unknown period of time, Shidou finally couldn’t help but open his mouth
and inquire.

“Hm, actually there’s a place that I’d like to visit.”

“A place that you’d like to go? Where?”

“Fufu, I’m keeping it a secret for now.”

At the same time, Kurumi did not forget to put her finger to her lips. Witnessing Kurumi making
such a cute action, Shidou felt his heart flutter. However at this juncture, he immediately
reminded himself. Although this chance to interact with Kurumi could be a rare opportunity, her
danger level did not decrease due to this. Being with her means that a moment of carelessness
could very well mean instant death. Just as Shidou was contemplating about this, Kurumi who
was dragging Shidou suddenly stopped in her footsteps. Following that, she showed a cunning
smile, the tip of her tongue circled her lips, her eyes were directed straight at Shidou.

“—Aaah, aaah. Sure looks... delicious.”

“...!!”

Those words caused Shidou’s wariness to rise.

“What... don’t tell me, you really intend to—”

His voice trembling in fear, Shidou tried to pull away from Kurumi. However Kurumi’s arms
were akin to chains, refusing to let go of Shidou for even a single millimeter.

“Ah, ah—”

Kurumi chuckled, her lips forming a crescent, she then pointed her finger—at the open-air stall
behind Shidou. The stall was selling snacks named [Bamboo Leaf Cakes]. Within these bite-
sized cakes, fillings such as red bean paste or cream were added. It did seem very appealing.

“Hey, Shidou-san. Don’t you think that that looks delectable as well?”

“Eh? So you were referring to... c-cake...?”

“—Oh my, what in the world did you think I was talking about?”

Shidou’s expression instantly relaxed. Upon witnessing his strange reaction, she couldn’t help
but giggle... haa, it somehow feels like he was a clown in Kurumi’s hands.

“I-I’m telling you...”

“Fufufu, but, it really makes you hungry, right? Just look, there are so many weird things
everywhere. That one over there seems to be called [Milky Way Shaved Ice].”

Shidou looked at the direction Kurumi indicated, there was indeed a stall that was selling shaved
ice with Blue Hawaii syrup with condensed milk on top.

“Ahh... so that’s how it is, so that’s their representation of the Milky Way, it is rather creative.”

“Look, the [Orihime Cotton Candy].”

“Linking cotton candy with cloth weaving? This one seems a little forced...”

“That one over there seems to be [Hikoboshi’s Beef Jerky].”

“This... a cowherd shouldn’t be eating beef.”

Merchants are really pulling out all the stops, Shidou frowned, sweat formed on his cheek.
Kurumi put her hand to her mouth, showing a slight smile.

“Fufu, being together with Shidou-san like this, really makes me happy.”

“No, I’m not really doing...”

However, without even waiting for him to finish, Kurumi once again towed Shidou at his elbow.

“Let’s go this way, Shidou-san.”

“Wah, Kurumi, don’t pull me!”

“Fufufu, time waits for no one don’t you know? Come on, Shidou-san. Let’s treasure the short
period of time we have together.”

Kurumi walked on with a smiling face, with Shidou right behind her, they weaved through the
shopping district. Following that was another fifteen minutes on foot, Kurumi pointed at the
building in front and spoke to Shidou.

“This is the place.”

“This place is... oh, the planetarium?”

That’s right, in front of the two was the planetarium that was located slightly further away from
the shopping district.

“Yes, I’ve been longing to have a look for a long time now.”

“Is that so... This is rather unexpected.”

“Ara, what do you mean?”

“Ah, no...”

Shidou was in the middle of thought as to what excuse to make before making a sudden
realization—he was shocked at himself for being relaxed enough to be able to joke around with
Kurumi. No, he probably did not let down his guard at all.

However, from the shopping district to this point, he did not feel any feelings of hostility or
violence from Kurumi at all, this somehow caused him to lose his sense of wariness. That’s right,
the Kurumi today is really just a normal girl. Happily linking arms whilst engaging in
conversation, smiling in bliss... all those normal activities.
Such normality—being together for such a short period of time, had caused Shidou to forget the
bloody struggle last month.

“...”

Shidou wordlessly focused on Kurumi.... He has no idea what is going on in her mind. Is she
planning on [consuming] Shidou once he let down his guard? But if that was the case, what kind
of motive does Kurumi have to do this in such a roundabout way? She would only have to pull
him into the shadows the instant their eyes met to achieve that goal. If that was the case, then
why? She couldn’t have really been just hoping for a date...? No, that way of thinking would be
even more foolish. Since she made contact with Shidou knowing full well that she may be
discovered by <Ratatoskr>, then she must have some goal in mind—

“...? Shidou-san? What’s the matter?”

“Ah... it’s nothing. Let’s go in, Kurumi.”

Shidou hid his hesitant feelings from Kurumi, walking into the planetarium together. Purchasing
two tickets, they located their seats and sat down. Not long after the lights in the planetarium
went out, the guide’s voice resonated in the darkness.

“—We’re very thankful for your presence in the planetarium today. Our program for today is—”

After the scripted greetings, on top of the semi-circle dome ceiling, countless stars began to
shine.

“Wow...”

A voice of amazement sounded out from beside him, Shidou couldn’t resist moving his vision
from the ceiling to the source. Next to him, Kurumi’s eyes were shining with a glittering sparkle,
she did not avert her gaze, staring at the countless dazzling stars above her in a daze.

“...”

Upon witnessing her innocence, Shidou scratched his cheek... giving out a small sigh, before
returning his gaze to the ceiling.... He could see the stars and yet he could not understand
Kurumi’s real feelings. Leaving Shidou’s sense of helplessness aside, the countless stars in the
sky banded together, forming a magnificent tapestry of light—this was the Milky Way. On both
sides, there were two other stars that gave off a brilliance that outshone the other stars.

[—The daughter of the Heavenly Emperor who lived by the bank of the Amanogawa, Orihime,
was a celestial maiden that was able to weave beautiful clothes. However, after she married
Hikoboshi the Cow Herder, Orihime no longer wove cloth, spending the whole day playing with
Hikoboshi. The Heavenly Emperor was incensed when he saw this and separated the two in
order for them to focus on their work. From then on, the two lovers are only allowed to meet
each other once a year, on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month. However if it rains
on that day, then the Amanogawa would flood and they would be unable to cross— ]

So that was what it was, narrating the origin of Tanabata, it does seem fitting of the festive mood.
Shidou stealthily peeked to his right once more, yet he was caught off guard by Kurumi’s eyes
meeting his.

“—!”

“...Fufu.”

Shidou couldn’t help but feel his heart jump, however Kurumi did not seem to notice as she
revealed a bright smile, she silently overlapped Shidou’s hand with hers. The back of his hand
was enveloped in a soft yet cool sensation, Shidou’s heart skipped a beat.

“K-Kurumi...?”

He wanted to ask her a question, but her gaze had already returned to the starry ceiling. Kurumi
paid no heed to Shidou’s fluster, slowly parting her soft lips.

“Hey—Shidou-san.”

“W-what is it...?”

“Hikoboshi and Orihime, they are separated by the Milky way, only allowed to meet once a year,
is that right?”

“...Yeah, that’s correct.”

“However, if it rains on Tanabata, then this once in a year opportunity would be lost.”

“Yeah... there are a lot of interpretations regarding this... but this is true for most myths.”

Hearing Shidou’s words, Kurumi took a shallow breath as though thinking of something before
continuing to speak.

“If... and only if, one year, another year and the year after that... if rain continues to fall on
Tanabata, the Amanogawa that separates the two will continue to flood... then the two lovers, are
they still able to continue to think of each other?”

“Eh...?”

Faced with such a sudden question, Shidou couldn’t help but tilt his head in wonder.
“Why the sudden question?”

“Time is more gentle than anything. Even though the two of them will lose this once in a year
opportunity to meet, that sadness will heal as time passes. However time is also more cruel than
any other, even though the two lovers have pledged their love for all eternity, that pure emotion
will fade away into dust in the flow of time. That one instant where their existence is recognized
by each other is being constantly taken away by fate, just how long will the lover that resides in
their heart exist till?”

“That really is... a difficult question to answer.”

Shidou’s face took on a troubled expression as he replied, there was no correct answer when it
came to this type of question.

However, Kurumi did not back down as she continued to look at Shidou, it was as though she
was waiting for Shidou to give her an answer. That serious gaze of hers, made Shidou slightly
afraid.

“Gah—... Kurumi?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not Hikoboshi nor Orihime. What I am going to say next, I hope you will take it as my
personal opinion.”

“Alright.”

“I think that they would probably never forget each other.”

Hearing his statement, Kurumi curiously tilted her head in his direction.

“Why would you think of it that way?”

“Just think about it, the two of them forget about their work because their relationship was so
good, resulting in their separation right? If it weren’t some disastrous issue, how could they
forget themselves?”

“...Is that so.”

Kurumi’s melancholic reply had a sigh mixed in. It seems that this reply did not make her
satisfied.

However, Shidou was not done speaking, he shook his head and continued.

“Don’t be hasty, I have proof to what I just said.”

“Proof... you say?”

“That’s right. I think... The two of them are actually constantly meeting in secret.”

“Huh?”

Kurumi was caught off guard as she widened her eyes.

“What do you mean by that? Aren’t the two of them being separated by the Amanogawa?”

“No, if you think about it, Hikoboshi—also known as the Cow Herder Star’s other name is
Aquila— it’s the alpha star of the Eagle constellation. Since it’s an eagle, it will just fly across
the Amanogawa just by flapping its wings. The two of them must be meeting secretly behind the
Heavenly Emperor’s back. Therefore, how would they forget about each other.”

“...”

Hearing Shidou’s words, Kurumi was speechless as she widened her eyes for a moment—

“He, hehe... haha, ahahahaha.”

Not long after, she began to laugh uncontrollably. It was not the gentle, discreet giggle that she
had used till now but a loud laughter. Irritation started to show from the surroundings in the form
of coughs, glares of complaint stabbed at the two of them like needles. Despite all of this,
Kurumi continued to laugh.

“Um... Kurumi, I think it’s better if we left first, alright?!”

Saying that, Shidou helped Kurumi to stand up. Although Kurumi was still in bursts of laughter,
she still obediently listened to Shidou’s suggestion. As Shidou repeatedly bowed his head in
apology to the visitors around them, he led Kurumi out of the dark hall.

“Haa—... Fufu, that was really funny. I understand now... indeed, Shidou-san does have a point.”

“...Actually I had no intention of making you laugh. Since you are done, then shall we go back in
again?”

At Shidou’s inquiry, Kurumi however shook her head from side to side.

“It is enough. This aside—I wish to write on tanzaku. By writing my wish on that and hanging it
on a bamboo shoot, it will come true, is that correct?”

“Although I don’t know how true that is... Hm, tanzaku huh, If that’s the case, then let’s go to the
shopping district, there’s massive bamboo planted there. Tanzaku are distributed for free as well,
shall we go together?”
“Yes, I can’t wait.”

Kurumi showed an adorable smile, hugging tightly onto Shidou’s arm once more.

“Hey, hey...”

Shidou wanted to resist for an instant... however he immediately realized that such resistance is
futile, thus he let Kurumi hold on to his arm as they left the planetarium together. Following that,
they walked back onto the route that they came from. Looking at his watch after leaving the
building, the time had just passed six in the evening. The sky has started to take on a crimson
hue, the shadows of the two were drawn out on the ground....

It’s going to be dinner time soon, the hungry Tohka must be ranting for dinner at the Itsuka
residence already. But it is impossible for him to escape from Kurumi at present. Most
importantly—regarding the present Kurumi and the one he had met last time, Shidou was unable
to leave her be. Just as they were about to turn into the shopping district, Kurumi suddenly cried
out in surprise, stopping in her tracks.

“Gah... what’s the matter?”

“Shidou-san, look at that”

Shidou looked in the direction indicated by Kurumi. Over there, was a small wedding store, on
the signboard had the words [Try on a wedding gown free!] written on it.

“I’ve always wanted to try one. Before we go back to the shopping district, may we go there and
take just a little peek?”

“This is... but I’m still a high school student. Then again why are you suddenly so interested in
that sort of thing...”

“...”

Hearing Shidou say that, Kurumi suddenly looked crestfallen, showing a lonesome expression.

“...That’s because I wish to have more memories with Shidou-san. At the same time—I hoped
that Shidou-san would be able to take away memories of being with me as well.”

“Eh?”

Hearing Kurumi say words that did not sound like her at all, Shidou couldn’t help but raise an
eyebrow.

“...Can’t we, please?”

“Guh...”

Looking at Kurumi’s moist eyes, Shidou couldn’t find it in his heart to say no to her.

“I, I got it already. Then let’s just ask them. If they refuse, then you have to give up, alright?”

“! Yes, yes! I’m so happy!”

Kurumi’s expression instantly brightened up. That pure and innocent look, caused Shidou to lose
all intention of resisting, he had no choice but to walk to the wedding store with Kurumi.

“Shidou-san... where are you?”

It was evening. Under the twilight glow, Yoshino was currently walking through the shopping
district. The small figure of the girl was hidden under the straw hat’s large brim. Her two
sapphire blue pupils as well as the funny looking rabbit puppet on her left hand [Yoshinon] were
her key features.

“Yeah, that’s right, did something happen to him...”

“Hmph, he’s probably mulling over what to make for dinner in front of the stalls. Let’s find him
quickly and go home.”

As though they were replying to Yoshino’s outspoken thoughts, the two girls walking in front of
her spoke. One of the girls had hair as dark as night, a girl with crystal-like eyes—Tohka. The
other girl had her hair tied into two ponytails with black ribbons, having a haughty
expression—Kotori. That’s correct, originally dinner was supposed to be at the Itsuka residence,
but Shidou who had left earlier to buy dinner ingredients has yet to return and is unable to be
contacted. As such Yoshino as well as Tohka and Kotori who were worried set out together to the
shopping district to find him.

“Hm?”

All of a sudden, Tohka’s eyebrow twitched, she patted Kotori on the shoulder and asked.

“Kotori, Kotori.”

“Hm? What is it? Have you found Shidou already?”

“No, I haven’t... I just wanted to know, what is that?”

Saying that, Tohka pointed in the direction of the street. Over there, numerous bamboo were
placed alongside the street. For some reason, the branches of the bamboo had countless strips of
paper attached onto them.
“Oh... Those are wishing tanzaku. That means that today is Tanabata.”

“Tanzaku? Tanabata?”

“Yeah. Tanabata’s custom is to write your wishes onto strips of paper called Tanzaku and hang
them on the bamboo, then your wishes would be granted.”

“! Wh, what did you say...!”

Hearing Kotori’s explanation, Tohka’s eyes started to glow.

“Ko... Kotori!”

“...Alright alright, it’s okay, you can go and give it a try.”

“Y-yeah!”

Kotori expressed her approval as though she had seen through everything, Tohka on the other
hand, nodded her head vigorously before running to the bamboo. Looking at Tohka’s figure,
Kotori turned her gaze towards Yoshino.

“If that’s the case, then Yoshino should go as well.”

“Eh... I-I can, go too...?”

“Yeah, of course. Although it’s a different case altogether whether it will come true or not, since
this comes once a year, you should go and experience it for yourself.”

“Al, alright...!”

As such, Yoshino followed Kotori to the main street, retrieving two free tanzaku, taking up the
organizer’s pen, and she wrote down her wish alongside [Yoshinon].

“Oooh, what did everyone wish for?”

At this point, Tohka who had finished writing her wish a step ahead of the others sneaked a peek
at Kotori’s tanzaku.

“...Uh!”

At that, Kotori went into a fluster, hastily rubbing off the wish that was half- finished.

“Uh? What’s wrong, Kotori.”

“It’s, it’s nothing. I wrote it wrong, just a mistake.”

Kotori said a vague line as she began to rewrite her wish in the space that was left.

“Hm? This wish seems a bit different from just now?”

“! It’s just your imagination! R-right, Yoshino’s done too right?! Let’s hurry and put these up and
find Shidou!”

“Hm? Oh, ooh...”

“O-okay...”

Tohka and Yoshino hurriedly nodded their heads after succumbing to Kotori’s pressure. After
everyone had written their wishes down on their tanzaku, they made their way through the
crowd.

“Phew... But, it’s going to take a lot of effort to find Shidou in this crowd. There’s no other way
then, let’s split up and search. I’ll go to the north section of the street, Tohka will go to the south,
Yoshino will circle around the area to search. If you still haven’t found him in 30 minutes, come
back here to regroup, understand?”

“Yeah, I got it!”

“O, okay... We understand.”

[OK—Leave it to us—!]

Tohka, Yoshino as well as [Yoshinon] nodded their heads.

“Good... then, let the searching start!”

At Kotori’s signal, the three girls plus one rabbit went off into their respective search zones.
Yoshino’s area was the commercial district on the boundary of the shopping district. Compared
to the large street, there’s less human traffic here, there’s a lesser chance of bumping into people
distributing tissue papers or passers-by. Kotori must have thought about this beforehand for
Yoshino’s sake. After silently thanking Kotori, Yoshino started to look for Shidou.

“...Shidou-san, I hope you didn’t get into any trouble.”

Yoshino said to herself. However at this point, [Yoshinon] on her left hand suddenly laughed

“Oo—hohoho”.

[Well—danger aside—he could very well have ran into that you know—?]

“That...?”
[I’m talking about women—Women. Ah—Shidou-kun is a sex maniac!]

Saying that, [Yoshinon] covered its face with both hands, twisting its body while acting shy.
Yoshino showed a bitter smile, but before she could reply [Yoshinon]—

“Eh...?”

The next instant, she widened her eyes, standing rooted to the spot. The reason for that was
simple. She saw Shidou and a girl whom she did not recognize together on the street.

“T-that was...”

[It’s Shidou-kun—Uhwoo—What a girl! Shidou-kun really is something!]

“H-how can this be...”

Yoshino’s voice started to tremble . Shidou and the girl walked straight towards a building.
—That place was a wedding store.

“Eh...?!”

[Hyuuuu—]

Yoshino did not understand the full details, but she had heard previously that marriage was the
act of two people pledging their love for each other forever and living with each other under one
roof. —Don’t tell me, Shidou-san really...?

“...Uu.”

Yoshino held her breath, sneaking around behind corners while inching closer to the store that
the two had entered. Peeking inwards from the entrance into the building she saw Shidou
negotiating with the receptionist about something, the girl on the other hand was waiting behind
him. Black silk-like hair, perfect features, this girl was beautiful to the point of making her feel
frightened.

“Shi-Shidou-san... Why are you here?”

“...Ara?”

Just as Yoshino was focusing on this girl in bewilderment, the girl noticed Yoshino’s gaze,
walking towards her.

“Good evening, do you want something from me?”

“Hyi...”
Suddenly being engaged in a conversation by a stranger caused the timid Yoshino to jump.
However, now wasn’t the time to be afraid, Yoshino gathered all the courage that she had and
opened her trembling mouth.

“U, um... Can I ask what your relationship is with Shidou-san...”

Hearing Yoshino mention Shidou’s name made the girl widen her eyes in surprise.

“You know Shidou-san? Ara...? Then again, did I meet you somewhere...?”

The girl mumbled to herself while in thought, slightly nodding her head a few times after a
while.

“...?”

“Aaah, don’t mind me. Besides, don’t you want to know what sort of relationship... Shidou-san
and I are in?”

“Ye... yeah...”

Yoshino lightly nodded, at that the girl’s mouth had a hint of an evil smile.

“Regarding this, how should I put this. I guess it would be like destiny that can’t be severed, a
passion that cannot be separated... In conclusion, it’s a special relationship that cannot be
interfered with by anyone hm?”

“Eh? Eh...?”

The girl’s words made Yoshino go into shock. However the girl continued to speak while
enjoying Yoshino’s reaction.

“I know everything there is to know about Shidou-san including every inch of his body, that’s
because I have carefully inspected him thoroughly just like licking him all over. Aaah... That
time when we met last month, what a passionate night that was. Just as I was confiding in
Shidou, a burning object entered my body... Fufufu, I’ll have to make him take responsibility for
that.”

“T-that...”

“Aaah, that’s right. The underwear that I’m wearing right now is also picked for me by
Shidou-san himself. If you don’t mind, do you want to have a look?”

Saying that, the girl pinched the edges of her skirt, slowly lifting them upwards.

“...?!”
Yoshino’s mind went blank, the world began to spin, she did not give herself time to think, her
legs had already taken her away.

“Fufufu, good day to you then.”

The girl bemusedly called out, but Yoshino did not have any strength to turn her head. She did
not have time to sort out her thoughts, she only thought of leaving this place as soon as possible.

“Somehow... this makes one feel uneasy...”

Shidou said to himself, whilst adjusting his tie in the changing room located within the wedding
store. This can’t be helped, for men who were going to wear a white tuxedo for the first time in
their life, most of them would probably think the same thing as well. That’s right, in conclusion,
although Shidou and Kurumi are lovers in highschool, they have received permission to try out
the wedding gown.

No, to put it across more accurately, from the beginning, the female receptionist had a troubled
expression on her face, however after Kurumi whispered something to her, she immediately had
a change in attitude, becoming extremely cooperative. In short... She even allowed him to try out
the white tuxedo.

“That girl, what on earth did she say...?”

Shidou heaved a huge sigh—suddenly remembering something.

“Ah... then that means, I can use my handphone!”

Being led around by Kurumi all this time made Shidou’s thinking slow. Shidou took out his
handphone from his clothes on the hanger, opening it, he noticed the numerous missed calls
displayed on the screen. It seems that he had made his family worried.

“In any case, let’s just call Kotori first...”

However, just as Shidou was about to send a message over, the door of the changing room
opened with a bang, the receptionist who had been sitting in the waiting rushed in.

“Come on hurry up, the bride has already finished preparing! May the groom proceed in here!”

Saying that, she enthusiastically pulled Shidou’s hand.

“Wah, hold on?”

Shidou who was caught off guard couldn’t even resist, he was dragged out of the room without
even being able to make a call. Just like that he was led through the corridor, all the way till the
door of another changing room did the receptionist let go of his arm.

“Come, please enter.”

“Ah, um...”

Shidou listlessly replied, raising his hand to open the door.

“—”

Kurumi who was standing right in the center of the changing room entered his sights, Shidou
was instantly rendered speechless. Contrary to her usual image, a pure white wedding gown
enveloped her lithe body, a thin layer of makeup covered her face—in the presence of such
astounding beauty, Shidou was unable to come up with any words.

“Fufu... being stared at like this, I’ll get embarrassed as well.”

“! Ah, this... s-sorry. That was because you were... you are, really too beautiful.”

“Is that so, I appreciate the compliment.”

As soon as Shidou replied, Kurumi’s face took on a pale pink shade, showing a graceful smile.
For some reason, the staff member behind him keeps sniffing from an overflow of emotions, at
the same time taking out her handkerchief and dabbing at her eyes.

“...Hey, Kurumi, what did you say to her?”

“Aaah, that miss over there? Nothing much, I only said ‘I don’t have long to live due to a
terminal disease. I’m afraid that I won’t last till the age that we would be able to swear to spend
our lives together. She was so regretful of that fact, that she wanted to let me have the chance to
wear a wedding gown at least, with that she became extremely caring...”
“...Wait, isn’t all of that a lie?”

“Fufufu, I wonder?”

Shidou pointed with judging eyes, however Kurumi merely laughed. At this, the female
receptionist who was still weeping loudly sniffed a few times, she started to urge Shidou and
Kurumi.

“Alright alright, please proceed to the wedding hall, we provide photo taking as well.”

“Eh... No, no need, it’s enough for us.”

“What are you saying! This could be... it could be her last chance...!”

After crying out, the staff member used her handkerchief to cover her face as she wept
uncontrollably. It seems that she’s the type that will be easily brought to tears.

“Isn’t it fine like this, Shidou-san. Furthermore I too... wish to take a wedding photo together
with Shidou-san.”

“...Uu, um—”

Is this really okay... Although Shidou was hesitant, he couldn’t very well say

“It’s all a lie”

At this point of time, more importantly, there’s no reason to refuse Kurumi’s wish just because of
this reason alone. As such, under the urging of the receptionist, Shidou and Kurumi both went
through the corridor.

After stepping out from the building’s rear door, they reached a wide area that looked like a
courtyard. This was a quiet area that was away from the hustle and bustle of the city. And in the
centre, a church was built. Under the illumination of the setting evening sun, the entire space
looked like it was being painted with a vermilion glow. Although it was small, it was a church
that had been carefully maintained.

Opening the chocolate colored door, the crimson carpet extended all the way to the interior of the
church with rows of long benches on both sides, what entered their eyes soon after was the altar
that was placed inside the church, the huge crucifix as well as the brilliance of the stained glass
windows.

“Come! Please stand in front of the altar! Leave the photo taking to me!”

“O-oh, thank you.”

“Fufufu, we’re leaving it to you then.”

A digital single lens reflex camera was in the hands of the staff, under her instructions, Shidou
and Kurumi stood side by side in front of the altar.

“Well then, will the two please face over here. A little closer, groom, please smile!”

“Ha, haha...”

After being pointed out, Shidou made a half-hearted smile. At the same time, his ear heard the
snapping sound of the shutter. Not knowing how long she had run after leaving the store,
Yoshino accidentally ran into something soft.

“Kya...!”

“Yoshino? What’s wrong, why are you so flustered?”

Looks like she ran into Tohka. Tohka looked at Yoshino, tilting her head in wonder.

“To-Tohka... san. Shidou, san... is going...”

“Uh? Did something happen to Shidou?”

Looking at the panting Yoshino, the young maiden—Tohka frowned slightly.

“Y-yeah... actually...”

When Yoshino finally calmed down, she started to reiterate to Tohka what she saw just now.

“W-what...? Shidou is going to marry a girl who flipped her skirt...?”

Tohka raised her eyebrows in confusion. However this was unavoidable, since Yoshino who
witnessed the scene too had difficulty in understanding what she just saw. At this moment.

“Ah... Tohka, Yoshino. How was it at your end? Did you find Shidou?”

Just as the two girls were looking at each other helplessly, Kotori met up with them as well.

“Ohhh, Kotori. Actually, Yoshino seemed to have found Shidou...”

“! Really? Where did you see him?”

“Hm, speaking of this, it seems that Shidou flipped the skirt of a cute girl, they spent a passionate
night together, so now he’s being asked to take responsibility by marrying her or something.”

“Ah...?”
Hearing Tohka’s words, Kotori was instantly rendered speechless. However in the next instant,
her cheeks blushed red, rage was evident from her countenance.

“Ar... Are you kidding me! S-Shidou getting married?! Wh, w-w-what on earth is going on?!”

“I’m, I’m not too sure as well...”

“What kind of joke is this! Where did this vixen come from! How dare she seduce my
onii-chan!”

Kotori yelled aloud, repeatedly stomping the ground. After that she threw a sharp glare at
Yoshino . That demonic expression made Yoshino cry out in terror.

“Where are they, Yoshino! Lead the way!”

“O-okay...!”

Although Tohka’s explanation was slightly different from what she said earlier... But no matter,
the current situation still requires the assistance of the two. Yoshino, along with Tohka and
Kotori, sprinted back to the way she came from. After the photo shoot, the two of them got
changed, leaving the wedding store behind them. At this time the surroundings have already
taken on the color of dusk. That being said, he couldn’t just leave Kurumi with just that. The
special date that Kurumi had requested was still not completely over. That’s right, Shidou is
currently walking on the dark road of the shopping district alongside Kurumi in order to fulfill
her wish of writing on tanzaku.

“...”

Shidou silently glanced at Kurumi who was walking beside him. Kurumi was delicately hugging
the photo that was given to them from the wedding store (Furthermore, it really looked like a real
wedding photo, expensive interleaving paper was used—and it was all for free), at the same time
she was happily humming to a tune. After that, she would occasionally open the paper, sneaking
a peek at the wedding photo of the two and showing a delighted smile....

The current Kurumi, made Shidou even more confused. She was the most dangerous spirit
known, a girl who everyone should be wary of. However, at least Kurumi right now, no matter
how you look at it, seems like she only wants to have a date with Shidou today.

“Ah, Shidou-san, please look over there.”

As though stopping Shidou from thinking too much, Kurumi spoke to him.

“Hm...?”
Hearing that, Shidou raised his head. He saw many thick bamboo stalks placed alongside the
stores of the shopping district, the leaves extending towards the night sky. There were already
countless tanzaku hung on the branches, creating a colourful sight.

“Wah, that really looks beautiful.”

“Yeah... Look, they seem to be giving out tanzaku there. Didn’t you come over for that reason?”

“Yeah, I’ll just help myself then—Isn’t Shidou-san going to write one too?”

“Eh, no, I’ll just...”

“It’s a rare chance after all, will you write it together with me?”

Kurumi gently smiled, taking Shidou’s hand in hers. Just like that he was pulled by Kurumi,
walking next to the bamboo. The dense number of bamboo leaves were just like a curtain. Long
tables were placed below the bamboo to allow people to write their tanzaku more easily. Shidou
and Kurumi both took tanzaku from the staff members, after taking out pens from a makeshift
pen holder from a plastic bottle with its top cut off, they started to think of what to write.

“A wish... huh.”

Although he did have wishes,... but when he wanted to write them down, he found it difficult to
decide. As such, Shidou naturally thought, what did the others write, at the same time he looked
up.

“Hm...?”

Amongst the few tanzaku that he saw, a familiar name was seen. [I want to eat Katsu-karē for
dinner tonight. Yatogami Tohka]

“That girl... when did she come here?”

Judging from that distinct handwriting, it was definitely written by Tohka herself. Shidou
scratched his cheek in suspicion, deciding in his heart—he will remember to buy ingredients for
Katsu-karē on his way home. Following that, looking beside the tanzaku, he saw others. [I wish
that I can speak to people in the eye. Yoshino] [I wish for Yoshino to be happy. Yoshinon]

“Haha...”

Looking at such heartwarming wishes, Shidou couldn’t help but smile. It seems that Yoshino and
[Yoshinon] came here with Tohka.

“Then, probably...”
Shidou continued to look at other tanzaku. [I wish that Shidou would be more useful. Kotori
Itsuka]

“T-that girl...”

That was definitely Shidou’s sister · Kotori’s tanzaku. Shidou’s facial muscles twitched, his
eyebrows started creasing

—Suddenly, he noticed that there seemed to be smudges on the right side of her wish.

“...”

It was very unlikely that that imouto-sama would write incorrectly. She probably wrote some
unsightly insults, so she had no choice but to rewrite. Shidou heaved a sigh, at the same time
using his finger to scratch his face before turning to look at his tanzaku once more. Looks like
there was no need to be overly serious. Shidou intended to write [I wish that all Spirits will
obtain happiness]—before recalling that the existence of [Spirits] is a secret. So, he changed his
words to read [I wish that spacequakes would not occur again, let there be peace on earth.].
Although it sounds more subtle, the meaning behind it is generally the same.

“Let’s leave it like that...”

Saying that, Shidou turned to look at Kurumi’s direction. To be honest, in regards to what wish
she would be writing, it would be impossible not to feel curious.

“Kurumi, what did you write?”

As he spoke, Shidou glanced at the tanzaku in her hands. However Kurumi immediately flipped
that tanzaku over, preventing him from seeing it.

“Fufu, that’s a no no, you dare peek at a maiden’s secrets, Shidou-san is a mean person.”

Kurumi displayed an alluring smile, raising her index finger, swiftly pressing onto Shidou’s lips.

“You...!”

“Fufu, Shidou-san’s reaction is really cute.”

“D-don’t tease me anymore.”

Shidou wiped his lips with his arm, Kurumi on the other hand started to happily giggle.

“Never mind that, in short, you’re done as well right? Then let’s hang our tanzaku on the
branches.”
Hearing his words, Kurumi obediently nodded her head.

“Yeah, then where shall we hang it?”

“Well... there’s a saying, the closer you hang it to the heavens, the higher the chance that the wish
would come true...”

“Closer to the heavens... then that means, over there?”

Kurumi pointed up to the sky, over there, a massive bamboo with a height taller than the roof of
the building swayed with the wind. Such a height, no man could reach, so there were no tanzaku
hung.

“Um, that really is high... but that’s too dangerous. Look, there’s some space on the bamboo over
there, let’s hang it there.”

“Mm, alright.”

Shidou and Kurumi both held their tanzaku in their hands, walking forwards under the cover of
the leaves. Nearing the end of the road, one could see that there was still space to hang tanzaku.

“Yeah, then let’s hang these here.”

Saying that, Shidou stretched out his hand, hanging his tanzaku onto the branch. However,
Kurumi still held onto her tanzaku, not moving from her spot. Shidou saw that, tilting his head in
confusion.

“Kurumi? What’s wrong with you?”

Hearing his words, Kurumi weakly smiled before slowly speaking.

“Shidou-san... You had said it before right, Hikoboshi and Orihime, no matter how many years
of rain, would never forget each other.”

“Eh? Yeah... I did say that.”

Hearing that, Kurumi, as though wishing to deeply remember this sentence, drooped her head,
continuing to speak.

“Hey... Shidou-san. No matter how many years of rain, would Shidou-san not forget about me
too?”

“Eh?”

Such a sudden question, caused Shidou to hesitate.

However, Kurumi did not seem to be making fun of him. So, after Shidou thought for a few
seconds, he nodded to Kurumi.

“Yes, I won’t forget you. A girl with such a strong presence as you, I can’t forget even if I
wanted to.”

Shidou bitterly smiled as he replied.

“Is that so.”

Hearing that, Kurumi let out a satisfied smile.

“What’s with you... what a strange fellow. Alright, let’s hurry up and hang the tanzaku shall we?
If you don’t want me to look at what you wrote, I can step back for a while—”

“No.”

However, Kurumi shook her head from side to side.

“Looks like... time is already up.”

“Time is... up?”

Hearing Kurumi’s words that held a deeper meaning, Shidou couldn’t help but frown. And in the
next instant—

“—I finally found you, [Me].”

From behind Kurumi—within the dark alley separated from the hustle and bustle of the busy
street, he heard such a voice.

“What...”

After that, the moment he saw the figure that materialized, Shidou was rendered speechless. It
was beautiful, wearing a long skirt that had vermillion and black interwoven like blood and
shadow, black hair tied into two uneven bunches on both sides, as well as heterochromatic eyes.
Furthermore, that face— There was no question about it, it was Kurumi herself. The Kurumi
who was standing in the shadows, parted her lips slightly.

“You really went and did some selfish things... But, it all ends here. A clone that doesn’t obey
my will, will only stand in my way if you exist.”

“A, clone...?!”

Shidou widened his eyes, looking at the Kurumi who was holding her tanzaku. Kurumi was able
to extract as well as hide copies of her past self in her shadows completely, that was something
that he had understood last month. —But, don’t tell me, the Kurumi that was with him the entire
day all this while, was actually a clone. Shidou’s head was in the midst of chaos. On the other
hand, standing in the shadows—Kurumi’s [real body] bent her knees slightly while pinching the
ends of her skirt, bowing to Shidou.

“It’s really been a while, Shidou-san. I’m really sorry, my incompetent clone seemed to have
given you some trouble.”

“This.. What on earth is going on?”

Shidou’s confusion could be told from his expression. Hearing such a question, the real Kurumi
looked at her clone from the corner of her eye, lazily starting to explain.

“I’ve said it before right, my clones are my past, my experiences. The [Kurumi Tokisaki]
standing over there is the same, she was taken out of a random instant of my past, another
personality. It’s just that, the instant where I had taken her out from was really from a terrible
moment.”

“Terrible...?”

The real Kurumi nodded her head.

“That [Me] was when I was replenishing my clones... I accidentally recreated her from the time
when Shidou-san was talking to my other self on the roof last month... I really don’t know
whether it can be counted as a prank from god.”

“Wha—”

Shidou was speechless. He still recalled clearly. Last month, on top of Raizen High School,
Shidou and Kurumi had indeed spoken to each other. Not only did the Kurumi of that time
expand a barrier within the school, she also attempted to trigger a spacequake. Shidou on the
other hand successfully persuaded her to stop, but the moment Kurumi was about to reciprocate
his feelings— At that moment, the original Kurumi showed up, and killed that Kurumi.

“Then that means, you’re Kurumi, from that time...?”

“...”

Kurumi did not reply, she merely revealed a sad smile. Looking at her, the real Kurumi
impatiently sighed.

“I’m really sorry, a clone that doesn’t listen to my orders cannot be left alone— especially [Me]
who already had developed feelings for Shidou-san.”
Saying that, the real Kurumi slowly raised her right arm, and —swiftly formed a fist. Following
that, Kurumi’s feet sprouted countless pale arms, slowly pulling her into the darkness.

“Ku—Kurumi...!”

Shidou hastily extended his arm, hoping to grab Kurumi’s hand—However it was already too
late.

“Shidou-san. Today—I was happy, really...”

Kurumi did not make any form of resistance, she let the white arms wrap around herself, until
her figure was completely submerged by the darkness. It was as though... she had already known
that she would meet such an end from the start.

“Kuru..mi...”

“...Killing the same [Me] twice, what an unpleasant feeling.”

The real Kurumi said as such, at the same time she pinched her skirt just like before, dipping her
head and making a bow.

“I’ve done what I’m here to do for today. I originally wished to talk more with Shidou-san...”

The real Kurumi said while looking behind Shidou. Almost simultaneously—

“Shidou—!”

“Back off!”

A familiar voice sounded out, in the next instant, Tohka and Kotori suddenly appeared, standing
in front of Shidou.

“T-Tohka—Kotori?”

Shidou called out their names in surprise. He had just finished speaking, and Yoshino, too,
arrived beside him. Although Yoshino widened her eyes due to her not being able to understand
the situation, upon looking at the strong reactions of Tohka and Kotori, she took Shidou’s hand in
hers in a bid to protect him.

“Kurumi...! Don’t you dare harm Shidou!”

“You have the guts to appear unannounced. What’s the matter today? If you intend to obediently
surrender, then I’ll be merciful and listen to your pleas of forgiveness.”
Hearing Tohka and Kotori’s words, Kurumi shook her head in exasperation, turning to look at
Shidou once more.

“—It is unfortunate that the terrifying Spirit of flames is here to interrupt, I’ll take my leave
here—Take care, Shidou-san.”

Saying that, Kurumi’s figure disappeared into the darkness. Almost instantly, all the tension in
the air evaporated as well. At the same time, Tohka, who was standing in front of Shidou turned
around.

“S-Shidou! Are you alright!”

“...Yeah, I’m fine.”

Shidou replied in a low voice, before gritting his teeth, forcefully smashing his fist onto the
ground.

“Kurumi...!”

Last month, the clone who was killed by the real Kurumi. It was a mystery as to why she
reappeared in front of Shidou. Her true intention is still unknown even till now. But—the only
thing he can understand is. Even though Kurumi knew that she would once again be killed by the
real Kurumi, she still chose to meet with Shidou. Just for a few hours of memories, she chose to
defy the absolute will of [Herself].

“...!!”

An indescribable feeling surged within him, Shidou once again swung his fist.

“S-Shidou...”

Tohka called out his name out of concern. However, Shidou’s head was still in a mess. Many
kinds of emotions broiled into a chaotic whirlpool, causing rational thought to be impossible. At
that moment.

“...Shidou. what’s that?”

Kotori’s voice sounded out to him from behind. Hearing that, Shidou raised his head
slightly—opening his eyes. At the spot where the Kurumi clone was consumed by the shadows,
the interleaving paper containing the photo was left, as well as —a small strip of paper.

“Tan, zaku...”
Looking at that, Shidou unsteadily stood up, picking up the tanzaku that had fallen to the ground.
After that, he looked at the words written on it.

“...”

Shidou bit down hard, as though attempting to draw blood from his gums. He held the tanzaku in
his hand, wordlessly walking down the street.

“Ah... Shidou! Where are you going!”

Tohka’s voice sounded out from behind him, but Shidou ignored her, tearing a path through the
crowd, he continued to walk forward. Finally, he arrived in front of the tallest bamboo that
Kurumi had said earlier, holding the tanzaku in his mouth, he climbed the nearby telephone pole
to the building’s roof. His actions quickly attracted the attention of nearby visitors, murmurings
started to sound out from the ground.

However Shidou did not take them to heart, he stepped onto the roof, extending his hand to the
largest branch on the bamboo. And then, while maintaining an unnatural position, he hung the
tanzaku in his mouth on the very top of the bamboo. However,

“Wah...!”

The instant he hung the tanzaku onto the branch, Shidou’s foot lost its balance, he fell from the
roof. His vision started to spin violently, the murmurings of the crowd turned into screams.

“Shidou—!”

However, at the same time he heard the voice, a second before Shidou’s body hit the ground, he
was caught firmly. Looks like Tohka who had caught up had saved his life.

“Are you okay, Shidou!”

“Oh, yeah... I’m saved, Tohka.”

“What’s the matter with you, running off like that.”

“Aaah... I’m here to hang the tanzaku.”

“Hm?”

Tohka frowned, raising her head and looking up. On the very top of the tallest bamboo, the lone
tanzaku was right there swaying in the wind.

“Hanging it over there? Uh, that really was dangerous.”

“Yeah... I’m sorry. But... it’s just that that wish, I’d like that to come true no matter what.”

Saying that, Shidou followed Tohka and looked upwards—in the swaying bamboo leaves, the
hint of a small single tanzaku could be glimpsed.

[I hope that one day, I will be able to meet Shidou-san once more. Tokisaki Kurumi]

“I won’t forget you... How could I possibly forget about you?” Shidou clenched his fist, looking
at the night sky as though making a pledge. In the midst of the glittering sea of stars, a small
single shooting star, flew across the sky, as though flying across the Milky way.
Allow us to celebrate Dramaga

Kotori: Celebrate! Dragon Magazine’s 25th anniversary!

Shidou: Wait, what are you suddenly saying, Kotori…? And while we’re at it, where are we?

Tohka: Mmm… It’s rather colorful suddenly. We're usually just black and white, two colors all
the time.

Origami: …

Yoshino: Umm… Is something about to start?

Yoshinon: Ooooh, Everyone’s assorted here huh?

Kotori: We have everyone assembled here for none other than this. Now, let’s start with
everyone’s names.

Tohka: Mine’s Yatogami Tohka!

Origami: Tobiichi Origami.

Yoshino: I’m… Yoshino…

Shidou: I’m Itsuka Shidou, but…

Kotori: And I’m Itsuka Kotori. Now that we’re this far, you should know right?

Shido: No clue whatsoever. Explain it?

Kotori: Pathetic huh? Look closely. Everyone’s name includes a number and added together it
adds up perfectly to [25]. Therefore the currently assembled faces are members specifically
chosen to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Dragon Magazine

Tohka: Wha, What did you say?

Shido: Ah, yeah. But what a great accident. Everyone’s name has a number in it.
Kotori: Yeah, it really is a great accident huh? (all in katakana)

Shido: Why are you suddenly talking like that? (referring to the all katakana)

Kotiri: You’re not supposed to notice that

Origami: ...Sweet

Kotori: Huh?

Origami: Just assembling the numbers and reaching 25 is something we can’t say.

Kotiri: Hm, then what should we do

Origami: That’s easy. We just need to combine it.

Tohka: C… Combine?

Origami: Yes. Not just assembling (gathering?) but get everyone to combine, then we can really
celebrate the 25th anniversary properly.

Yoshino: Uhh, what do you mean by that?

Origami: Practicing. …. Shido, you should go to a room over there and combine with me.

Shido: Uhh, what are you trying to do?

Tohka: Wait! I also want to go practice with Shido!

Shido: Do you even understand what you’re saying Tohka?!

Origami: No Problem. You guys can combine in a different way.

Tohka: Oh? Do you really mean it…? (First ? was a comma in JP but imo it makes more sense
with a ? in English, your call in the end Ene)

Origami: I mean it. Become our flesh and blood and continue to live on.

Shido: What are you guys trying to do?!

Kotori: Okay Okay. We’re supposed to be celebrating DraMaga, shouldn’t we not do things that
would easily get us banned and be more peaceful?

Yoshino: Uhm…. Well, how about we do this?

Shido: Huh?

Kotori: ...Uhh, Tohka, Shido, Tobiichi Origami line up and get in a crawling position, then on top
of that will be me and Yoshino. Then on the very top…

Yoshinon: Will be Yoshinon!

Shidou: ...Well, I guess if you’re being literal, this is combining in a sense

Tohka: Oooooh… a spectacular pyramid! The 25th anniversary is great!

Shidou: Su, sure…?

Origami: Shidou. As I thought, this wouldn’t be enough. You should combine with me.

Shidou: N… no, wait

Tohka: Hey…?! You, what are you doing! (Tohka uses Kisama which is closer to “you piece of
shit” but that might be a bit much xd)

Shidou: Hey, both of you, If you quarrel even in this situation, we’ll crumble… Waaaaaaa
(*falling noises*)
Afterword

Long time no see, or should I say nice to meet you? I am Tachibana Koushi.

What do you think of <Date A Live Encore>? I will feel honored if my readers like this book.

You must have found out that this is not a sequel. That being said, obviously <Date a Live> isn’t
over. This is just a short story collection.

I wrote this in the afterword of volume seven too. In terms of the story of <Date a Live>, the
girls who appeared can’t have their stories described with just those stories. Therefore, this time
the plan is to focus on each girl with short stories to fill in the gaps. This time specifically covers
Tohka, Origami, Yoshino, Kotori, and the yamai sisters that were previously published in
<Dragon Magazine> as well as three additional short stories that were created for this collection.

Therefore, this is the afterward for my first short story collection.

Having said that, the content of this light novel is different, but the afterword isn’t so I originally
wanted to write as usual, but a problem came up.

I mostly finished the manuscript by writing what was basically a first draft then reducing the
length. As a result, each time the page count shrinks, so does the afterword.

While there are previously unpublished stories this time, since they are included in the article
posted on <Dragon Magazine> it’s very different from the usual. As a result, this afterword has 8
pages.

I’ve never written such a long postscript before.

Since this is a collection of short stories, let me briefly explain each story. Because how many of
the stories will be spoiled, readers who don’t want to see any spoilers should read the novel
before continuing.

Tohka Game Center

This first short story was actually written immediately after the first volume of Date a Live.
Tohka is the protagonist of this story, of course, but since it’s also the first time some <Dragon
Magazine> readers have read <Date A Live>, the characters and dating system were explained as
well. Although it was a basic story, I was still happy that I wrote it. I like the way it came out.

In fact, the dream panda bear Ronnie that appeared in this story, also appeared in color of the
second OVA episode and shows an expansion in the type of products. Incidentally, it happens to
look similar to Tsunako-sensei’s self-portrait.
But I digress, the dream panda Ronnie has colorful fur and has two friends: a brown horse with
stars named Arnikino and a frog with flowers named Pillar Quack.

Origami Impossible

<Date A Live> first appeared on the cover of <Dragon Magazine> which published this short
story and anime news. I decided “after writing Tohka, let’s write Origami”. Although many parts
were conceived this way, it seems that I could only imagine Shidou being swallowed by
Origami.

I remember the original idea was that Origami was like a “devil terminator” chasing Shidou who
was on a date with Tohka. That sounds terrifying, so I decided to write something different just
to reduce Origami’s scariness.

I got really immersed in writing Origami’s scenes, so I didn’t have much awareness, but when I
saw the illustration of Origami on <Dragon Magazine> I felt like “I did something that shouldn’t
be let go”.

Yoshino Fireworks

I remember that compared to Tohka and Origami, Yoshino’s story settled down pretty smoothly.
It was worthy of being Yoshino, and she was easy to write. On the contrary, when the story was
submitted, it was the one that worried me the most, because the editor suddenly called me before
the manuscript was delivered and I was wondering what was going on. The other party told me
“This kind of manuscript can’t be delivered”.

Me: What’s the matter? Isn’t it ok?

Editor: No, the last scene is Shidou finding Yoshino wet in the rain and he feels like blushing
right? That’s not enough.

Me: What do you mean?

Editor: I think she should be spanked on the ass here…!

That was genius! The illustration is the result of that excellent opinion of the editor. Bravo.

Kotori Birthday

A short story about Kotori who is fully prepared and waiting for the perfect time to come on
stage. When I thought about what to write, the first thing that came to mind was a birthday party.
Although this is an absolutely indispensable event, it would be too long for this story.

Having said that, it feels lonely to grow older, so the story became the birthday party everyone
celebrated together with Kotori. As far as plot development is concerned, most of the stories
have Kotori’s hair tied with black ribbons, but this time we can give the white ribbons a few
more appearances.

Yamai Lunchtime

Summer vacation is finally over, so Yamai Kaguya and Yamai Yuzuru have joined the battle. The
pair are like a stupid couple, and it was fun to write them, however it was also troublesome to
think about the unique way they speak. It’s also a very time consuming job to write for them.

The previous short stories are mainly for existing characters, but this time the characters didn’t
appear in the main story first. That’s right, the Four Heavenly Kings of the school store. Readers
who have read my debut work Soukyuu no Karma may know that I like this type of idiot the
most. I think it’s the charm of short stories to bring these types of characters out.

Kurumi Star Festival

Since I got the news, I wanted to publish a short story about Kurumi as part of the unpublished
new manuscript. Since she hadn’t been completely obsessed with Shidou, it’s difficult to describe
her daily life not just here but also in <Dragon Magazine>, however it’s necessary to show her
girlier side.

If Kurumi doesn’t appear, wouldn’t that be deceiving everyone? Since the season was perfect, I
decided to write the Star Festival theme for Kurumi. The story was originally called “Kurumi
Star”, but that felt sub-standard. Kurumi seemed almost as if she was going to be debuting as a
singer, so I changed the name. Since <Date A Live Encore> is usually happy and cute so far, this
time the theme was changed slightly to show a sadder side too. I personally really liked how this
one turned out.

So this book is the same as the story, and it could only be completed after so many people put
care into it. Tsunako who always draws beautiful illustrations, everyone in charge of the editing
and editorial department, and the many people in publishing and sales. Thank you so much.
Since there are many more stories of the girls to add, please continue to read <Dragon
Magazine>.

It will be my honor to talk to you again in <Date A Live> volume 8.

Koushi Tachibana

March 2013
Disclaimer: Date A Live is owned by Kadokawa and Koushi Tachibana. This is a non-profit fan
translation; please support the official release.

Author: Tachibana Koushi

Illustrator: Tsunako

Translators: Lightning Farron, Koyuki, Baka Tsuki, ABearCat

Editor: Ene

Thanks to: Rhoni, ABearCat, Midgert

As long as this page isn’t modified, and you don’t charge for access in any way whatsoever,
anyone is welcome to redistribute this document, including with changes. If you do edit the
stories though, please send me a copy (Ene#0666 on Discord). Thanks for your understanding.
- Ene