Date a Live:Date Under The Moon Chapter 120 120: The Vote

Ti went back to one hour earlier.

Shido was sitting with Mikoto at the Itsuka house, enjoying lunch together.

"Ah, crap."

Maybe it was because he was in a hurry to get to class, or maybe it was because being alone with Mikoto made Shido's heart race. Whatever the reason, he slipped up and spilled so zosui onto his pant leg.

"Honestly, you don't need to rush that much."

Mikoto walked over and used her handkerchief to wipe the rice soup from Shido's pant leg. Even so, a stain about the size of a broad bean still remained there.

"S-sorry."

Shido, who had been about to look for a napkin, scratched his cheek in embarrassnt.

"We don't have ti. Let's wash it properly when you co back tonight."

Looking at the stain, Mikoto said helplessly. Raizen High's school pants were gray, the kind of color that made stains hard to notice, but still could not hide them completely.

No one had expected that this tiny little stain would beco the key to telling Shido and Natsumi apart.

After all, while the two of them were eating and walking to school, there was no way Natsumi, who was causing chaos at school, could have known about it.

"Wha…"

So, when Natsumi saw the two of them point her out without the slightest hesitation, she imdiately fell into panic.

"What are you talking about? I'm…"

She tried to argue, but Mikoto and Tohka had already walked to Shido's side.

"How did you figure it out? My transformation should have been perfect. Even if you guessed blindly, you only had a fifty percent chance. Why could you say I'm the fake with that much certainty?"

Seeing this, Natsumi understood that she had truly been exposed.

"Umu… instinct! I didn't notice at first, but when you're together with the real Shido, your scent is a little different."

Tohka nodded and said.

"As for … it's a secret."

Mikoto winked, raised one finger to her lips, and made a gesture of secrecy. There was no reason to tell the other party how she had figured it out. Natsumi might drag Shido into another spinning trick again.

"What is wrong with these people? There's definitely sothing strange about them!"

Natsumi stared at the two of them like she was looking at monsters. Putting aside Mikoto, who refused to say the reason, telling the difference by scent? What the hell was that?

"Uh, well, haha…"

Shido laughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek. He was grateful that Mikoto and Tohka had recognized him, but he could also understand why Natsumi was shocked.

"Anyway! I didn't see anything at that ti! Natsumi, you should have realized that yourself, right? In an environnt full of dust and flashing light, how could I possibly see anything?"

Shido said. Right now, the most important thing was to clear up the misunderstanding.

"You… didn't see?"

After a flash of light, Natsumi returned to her big sister form.

"Yeah! That's right!"

Shido nodded seriously.

"Then… then…"

For a mont, Natsumi fell into hesitation.

"So, please. Don't treat like an enemy. I really want to save…"

"Hahaha! Don't lie to ! This is so kind of prank, right? You're pretending you didn't see anything, and then you'll say sothing like… 'Wow, that person actually believed it. How can she be so stupid?' and laugh at ."

Just as Shido was about to speak his true feelings, Natsumi suddenly laughed.

"Don't worry, Shido-kun. Whether you saw it or not, I'll make sure to play with you properly, until Shido-kun disappears from this world."

After saying that, Natsumi got on her broom and flew away from Raizen High.

_____________

DEM Industries, British headquarters building.

Several n had gathered in a conference room on the twentieth floor. These people were all directors of DEM.

The reason so many important figures had been called together was because of the disturbance that had happened last month at DEM Industries's Japanese branch in.

The executive director, CEO Isaac Westcott, had acted on his own and caused DEM's branch to suffer devastating damage. From the photos included with the materials, one could see that the first office building had been neatly cut in half, while many other facilities had also suffered considerable damage.

Not only that, several nad Wizards had also been sacrificed. Each of them had been an extrely talented asset. And that was not even ntioning how, before the crowd had fully evacuated, Bandersnatch had been deployed, causing Realizers to be exposed to the eyes of ordinary civilians, a clear violation of the agreent.

"Illegal interference with the Self Defense Forces. Arbitrary use of Wizards and equipnt. Issuing an attack operation that could injure civilians. Turning an office district into a battlefield. Losses that easily surpassed one billion pounds. And giving the Japanese governnt leverage over us. All of that was for what you call the inversion of a Spirit? Just what were you thinking, Mr. Westcott?"

An elderly director wearing glasses, a man nad Murdoch, said angrily.

"I now request that Mr. Westcott be dismissed from his position as CEO! Chairman Russell, please proceed with the vote."

Here, the executive director and the chairman of the board were not allowed to be the sa person. Even if only in na, they needed a representative other than Westcott, and that person was Russell.

"Are you sure about this, sir?"

Russell looked at Westcott with a troubled expression.

"Of course. It is a rightful power of the board mbers."

Westcott nodded calmly.

"Then we shall begin the vote. Those in favor of removing Mr. Westcott from his position as CEO, please raise your hands."

Following Murdoch's words, more than half of the people present raised their hands.

This was not only because they opposed what Westcott had done in Japan. The deeper reason was probably that they wanted to seize Westcott's authority. Compared with moral questions, what these people truly wanted was profit.

Murdoch revealed a mocking smile. Long before Westcott returned, he had already taken care of everything. More than half of the directors raising their hands was not a coincidence. It was inevitable.

Russell looked around the room, then said:

"As the number of raised hands is zero, the proposal to dismiss CEO Westcott is rejected."

"What did you say?"

Hearing Russell's words, Murdoch said furiously:

"Please do not joke at a ti like this. Or are you saying, Mr. Russell, that your eyesight has deteriorated to the point where you cannot count the number of raised hands?"

"No. I am only reporting the facts."

Russell said.

"What?"

Murdoch raised his head. Then he and all the directors who had raised their hands, through extre pain, discovered the source of that abnormality.

Everyone's hands had disappeared from the elbow down.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Screams rose one after another inside the conference room.

"You dare try to take DEM, the company Ike built, from him? You insolent fools are quite bold."

Behind Westcott, Ellen said coldly. In her hand was a small laser blade. Without wearing a wiring suit or CR-Unit, she had still managed to manifest a light blade and cut off all the directors's hands in an instant. That alone showed the level of her strength.

"Have the dical room prepare the Realizers at once. If you move quickly, perhaps they can still be reattached. All of you are excellent talents who will carry DEM's future. Wouldn't it be a pity to lose an arm over sothing like this?"

Westcott smiled as he looked at Murdoch.

"You bastard!"

Murdoch glared at him furiously, but Westcott remained unmoved.

"Do not worry. This company will be handed over to you sooner or later. Very soon, in fact—compared to the ti we have waited until now."

He said with a smile.