The marine park was even more fun than she had imagined. There were towering water slides, warm hot springs, and small dinghies for the lazy river.
Mikoto and Origami had a tacit understanding not to talk about anything related to Spirits. During lunch, while enjoying her seafood-flavored spaghetti, Mikoto shifted her gaze toward Shido in the distance.
[Still the sa as before, huh.]
Kotori had a stiff face, Shido was so tense his entire body looked rigid, and Tohka and Yoshino were carefully watching the awkward atmosphere between the two.
"Ah... Yes, that's ."
The ringing of a phone pulled Mikoto from her thoughts. Turning her head, she saw Origami answering a call.
"Yes, I understand."
After hanging up the phone, Origami looked at Mikoto and spoke apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Mikoto. It looks like I have to go."
The two had been having so much fun that they had dropped the honorifics and were calling each other by their first nas.
"Is it about the AST? Don't tell it's Efreet?"
Sothing that could make Origami break their plans halfway through was likely AST-related. Mikoto secretly worried if Kotori had been discovered by the AST.
"No... it's not that."
Origami hesitated for a second. Although she wondered why Mikoto specifically brought up Efreet, the reality was that the AST had discovered Kurumi's whereabouts.
"Yesterday, an experintal CR-Unit was added to the warehouse, and they need to run a test on it. My day off has been canceled. I'm sorry."
After a mont's thought, Origami lied. If she told Mikoto she was going to hunt Nightmare, the girl would probably try to stop her. While Mikoto herself couldn't do much, Origami believed there might be an organization backing her.
Kurumi aside, whether it was Yatogami Tohka or Yakumo Mikoto, obtaining a family register and enrolling in high school wasn't sothing you could do with just Spirit powers. It was undeniable that an organization capable of influencing human society was hiding behind them.
To ensure her mission wouldn't be hindered, Origami chose to lie.
"An experintal unit... Why would they call in a squad mber who is currently on their day off to run a test?" Mikoto asked, sowhat suspiciously.
"...The details are classified. I'm sorry."
Mikoto was far sharper than Origami had anticipated. The request and activation tests for White Licorice had already been completed last night. What she was going to do now was use it to annihilate Nightmare.
"I understand. Then I wish you success, Origami."
Unlike Shido, who was terrible at lying, Origami's performance didn't make Mikoto overly suspicious. Even though she still wondered why they had to use a mber on leave for the test, since Origami chose to keep the details classified, there must have been so complicated circumstances.
After saying goodbye to Origami, Mikoto slowly finished her lunch.
[Shido?]
Looking up, she noticed that Kotori and Shido had both left their seats one after the other.
[I just can't bring myself to leave him be.]
Shido's expression when he left looked incredibly downcast. Mikoto sighed, stood up, and left her seat.
______________
[...]
His date with Kotori had been anything but smooth. After leaving the vending machine near the restrooms, Shido's body felt as heavy as lead.
[Please. This might be the end... But before that, I want to stick out this date with Onii-chan until the very end.]
He had overheard what Kotori, hiding behind the vending machine, had said to Reine. His little sister was using an excessive amount of dication to suppress her destructive urges just so she could go on this date with him.
Yet, knowing that the date so far was nowhere near a success, Shido's heart was filled with self bla and guilt. Taking advantage of the mont Reine was giving Kotori her injection, he slipped away.
"Shido..."
"Yakumo-senpai..."
Looking up, he saw Mikoto standing at the entrance of the hallway.
"Umm, co here for a second."
"Eh? Y-Yeah... okay."
Shido let Mikoto grab his hand and pull him away from the vending machine area. It would be bad if Kotori or Reine saw them.
[Shido-kun. While you are with Mikoto, the Fraxinus will turn off all audio monitoring. However, to keep track of your physical condition, we will keep the video active. Is that alright?]
Kannazuki's voice ca through the earpiece. Normally, all surveillance would be dropped when Shido and Mikoto were alone. But to ensure Shido's physical safety, they had no choice but to disable the audio while keeping the visual feed.
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll leave it to you."
Regarding Mikoto's secret, as long as they didn't record their conversation, it was fine. Shido nodded.
"So... what is it?" Mikoto asked once they were in a secluded spot.
"I know this might make you mad, Senpai, but for Kotori's sake, please lend your strength no matter what! If I can't successfully conquer Kotori today, she'll... Kotori will..."
Shido held Mikoto's hands. If he couldn't conquer her today, Kotori would be completely swallowed by her destructive urges, and by then, it would be too late. No matter what, he wanted to save Kotori, his own little sister. To do that, Shido begged for Mikoto's help.
"Hah..."
Seeing Shido's panicked and dead serious expression, Mikoto sighed. Even though the truth hidden behind this supposedly life or death date was simply that he just needed to kiss his sister and be done with it, seeing Shido willing to risk his own life for Kotori made it impossible to refuse.
"I understand. First, tell how the date has gone so far."
"Yeah!"
Shido nodded. For so reason, he felt that if Mikoto helped him, the date would definitely succeed. With that thought, he briefly explained everything that had happened during the date.
"Then... first is the issue with the Fraxinus," Mikoto said after thinking for a mont.
"Fraxinus?"
"Hey, Shido. During our very first date, the lap pillow was a choice provided by the Fraxinus, wasn't it?"
Thinking back on it now, suddenly offering her a lap pillow out of nowhere was completely out of character for Shido.
"Yeah."
Although he didn't know why Mikoto brought that up, Shido nodded.
"See? If even I could notice that sothing was off, then for Kotori, who has lived with you since she was a child, spotting the Fraxinus's support is incredibly easy."
As she spoke, Mikoto reached out to Shido's ear and plucked out the earpiece he had been wearing the entire ti.
"If you want to conquer Kotori, you cannot rely on support from anyone else."
Mikoto raised her hand and tossed the tiny earpiece straight into a distant pool.
"Also... leave Tohka and Yoshino to . For the rest of the day, please spend it alone with Kotori. For a tsundere like her, having outsiders around will only make them act 'tsun' and never 'dere'."
Setting the Fraxinus surveillance aside, Mikoto completely couldn't imagine a scenario where Kotori would kiss Shido in front of Tohka and Yoshino. With outsiders around, the most likely outco was that Shido would get kicked away by Kotori, and they would have to find a secluded corner inside the airship later to finish the sealing.
"I understand."
Although losing support made him a little nervous, Mikoto's advice was extrely logical, and it aligned perfectly with Shido's own thoughts—abandon Fraxinus;s support and finish the date with Kotori all on his own.
"Mhm. Rest easy. You're a playboy who managed to conquer even a 'boy' like , Shido. I'm sure you can make Kotori fall head over heels for you."
Holding the boy's hands against her chest, Mikoto smiled warmly.
[!!!]
Looking at the young girl's gentle smile, Shido's heart cald down in an almost magical way.
"Oh right, just to be safe, I'll teach you a magic spell that is guaranteed to conquer Kotori."
The young girl stood on her tiptoes and whispered a secret directly into Shido's ear.
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