Mikoto sighed. From yesterday's battle, it was clear that a Wizard's Territory couldn't block the Seventh Bullet. Once hit, whether you lived or died depended entirely on where Kurumi aid. And unfortunately, that young lady was quite bloodthirsty.
"Compared to the number of tis Mana has killed Kurumi, one failure doesn't prove anything."
If it were in the past, Origami might have had nothing to say. After all, the AST had zero confird Spirit kills. Claiming the gap between them wasn't that big would just be lying to themselves. But Mana was different. As the current Top Ace of the AST, the young girl actually had a track record of killing a Spirit.
"However, Kurumi ca back to life every single ti, didn't she? What Mana killed were only Kurumi's clones. The only ti she faced the main body with its Angel manifested was yesterday, and you saw the result."
Mikoto shook her head. Even though she had no reason to give the AST too much intel, Mana already knew all this anyway. Once the girl woke up, she would definitely report it to the AST.
[!!!]
This brutally harsh reality made Origami's eyes widen. The unit's Top Ace, Takamiya Mana—soone capable of single handedly defeating ten AST mbers including Origami herself—was still that powerless before Kurumi's true body.
"I don't deny the AST's spirit in wanting to protect Tengu City. However, it's also a fact that you lack the effective ans to do so."
"Ugh..."
Although her words were harsh, Mikoto wanted Origami to clearly understand that attacking Tokisaki Kurumi could co at a terrible price.
"I will carefully consider your advice."
Even though it hurt her pride, Mikoto was telling the truth. Taking a deep breath, Origami nodded.
"Changing the subject, are you free this Sunday, Yakumo-san?"
"...Yeah."
Rembering that her date with Shido was canceled, Mikoto felt a little sad.
"I won two tickets to the Marine Park from a shopping district lottery a couple of days ago. Think of it as thanks for saving Mana. Would you like to go together?"
Perhaps because she no longer saw Mikoto as an enemy, Origami's expression softened.
"Yeah, I'd love to."
Being invited by Origami made Mikoto very happy. After all, outside of Shido and the others, Origami was the very first person who knew she was a Spirit and still invited her to hang out.
"Then let's et at the station plaza at 10:30 AM this Sunday."
"Okay."
Saying goodbye to Origami, Mikoto walked back ho alone.
"A marine park, huh... Looks like I'll need to buy a swimsuit," she thought on the way back.
June 10th, Saturday.
After everyone on the Fraxinus discussed it yesterday, Kotori's date was set for the Marine Park. The main reason was that Kotori herself had ntioned wanting to go there before. The secondary reason was that everyone on the airship wanted to... see Kotori in a swimsuit.
Therefore, before heading to the marine park, today's training was to help Tohka and Yoshino pick out swimsuits. The goal was to get Shido used to seeing girls in swimwear. Although Shido considered using this thod to fulfill his promise to Mikoto, he realized that if she found out his motives weren't pure...
[I would actually die.] That was what Shido thought at the ti.
The girls's cute swimsuits were a feast for the eyes. Afterward, Tohka dragged him off to eat lunch, and he went to a small indoor amusent park with Yoshino. But throughout the entire day, Mikoto's angry face from yesterday lingered in Shido's mind.
[I really did sothing terrible to her, didn't I?]
On the way back with Tohka and Yoshino, Shido let out a soft sigh.
"Shido... looks down again."
"...Shido-san..."
Looking up, he saw the Spirits looking at him with worried expressions.
[Sorry, Shin. Could you go back to Building B of the Twin Towers where they were selling swimsuits earlier?]
"Yeah, no problem. But why?"
[It was my fault for forgetting you already had a promise with Mikoto, so I wanted to make up for it. Just think of it as... extra training to get you used to seeing girls in swimsuits.]
Reine's voice ca through the earpiece.
She had been so focused on arranging Kotori's schedule that she ended up making Shido break his promise to Mikoto a second ti, and Reine had been deeply reflecting on it. Thinking about it carefully, using the excuse of "a date to raise affection" completely wouldn't work on a girl as perceptive as Mikoto, resulting in an unexpected bomb going off.
[We can do the final review of the plan tonight. For the next two or three hours until dinner, you're free to do whatever you want, Shin.]
"Umm... Tohka, Yoshino, sorry. I forgot sothing at the departnt store."
Since it involved Mikoto, Shido decided he had to rush over no matter what.
"We'll go with you, Shido."
"It's fine. You and Yoshino head back to the Spirit Apartnt first, Tohka."
Saying goodbye to Tohka and Yoshino, Shido broke into a dead sprint toward the departnt store.
________________
Swimsuits—the ultimate sumr weapons for girls—were lined up in dazzling variety right before Mikoto's eyes.
"Swimsuits... Now that I think about it, I've never actually picked out a swimsuit for a girl before."
Looking at the colorful swimsuits, Mikoto sighed in distress. In her mind, a swimsuit just needed to be comfortable and durable. However... that was a guy's way of picking a swimsuit.
"I wonder what kind the models in those fashion magazines wear?"
[No, no, no. Even if a model wears it, it doesn't an it'll look good on .]
Staring at the overwhelming variety of swimsuits, Mikoto let out a helpless sigh.
"Yakumo-senpai!!!"
Right at that mont, a familiar voice called out from behind her.
"Shi... Shido?"
Turning around, she saw Shido resting his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
In the blazing heat of sumr, Shido had run all the way to the departnt store without stopping. Just looking at the boy's state, Mikoto could easily guess what had happened. As for how Shido knew she was here...
[It was definitely Reine and the others.]
Indoors aside, whenever a Spirit went out, the Fraxinus would track them the entire ti. Not only to prevent them from being harassed by creeps or punks, but also because of lethal threats like Kurumi and the AST. So there was no way Reine and the crew wouldn't know where Mikoto went.
"Senpai... I..."
"Anyway... let's go get sothing to drink and rest first."
Looking at Shido, who was still leaning on his knees with sweat dripping from his bangs, Mikoto grabbed his hand without another word and pulled him into a café.
The cold drinks washed away the sweltering heat. Shido and Mikoto sat across from each other, the atmosphere a bit heavy.
They looked at each other, both wanting to say sothing, but neither seemingly able to find the right words. Finally...
"I'm sorry!"
"Sorry!"
Mikoto and Shido both bowed their heads at the exact sa ti.
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
Then, they looked back up at each other in surprise.
"Umm... how should I put this... I'm really sorry for not considering your feelings yesterday, Senpai." Shido scratched his cheek, looking deeply apologetic.
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I'm really sorry for snapping at you like that." Mikoto shook her head with a wry smile.
"Alright! It's decided! I'll stay with you for the rest of the day, Senpai!"
"Eh? Is that okay with Kotori's plan?"
"We still need to go over the final details, but we can do that after dinner." Shido smiled. The preparations for Kotori's date were already done. Even though there wasn't much ti left today, they could still make good use of it.
"Mhm. That works out perfectly. There's actually sothing I wanted to ask you to help pick out."
"Sothing... don't tell ..."
Rembering that when he found Mikoto, she was standing right in the swimsuit section, Shido suddenly got a very bad feeling.
"Yep, it's exactly what you're thinking."
Faced with Mikoto's beaming smile, Shido officially began his second playthrough of Operation: Heart Pounding Swimsuits.
User Comments
0 comments from readers