At 7:30 in the evening, the sun had already completely set.
Because of the executive committee work, Shido and Mikoto returned much later than usual.
Because of that, Yoshino ca out on her own to welco the two of them. After hearing about the Tenou Festival, the girl showed great interest.
When they returned to the Itsuka house, Shido was welcod by Kotori's kick at the entrance.
Kotori was very angry about him coming ho late without calling to report it.
But in Mikoto's eyes, the reason Kotori was angry was definitely not just because Shido didn't call.
Ever since the school trip, whenever Shido acted even a little strange, Kotori would beco extrely restless.
"Kotori, you should relax a little. Sotis, too much pressure can actually lead to bad judgnt."
Mikoto said that while cooking.
"Thank you for worrying about , Mikoto. Do I look that stressed?"
Kotori sighed.
"I don't know the reason, but the word 'anxious' is written all over your face."
"It can't be helped. The situation is getting more and more complicated."
Kotori gave a bitter smile, then lowered her voice so Tohka and the others could not hear.
"First, there's Phantom."
"Phantom?"
Mikoto tilted her head.
"The person who turned into a Spirit five years ago. It's inconvenient to keep calling that 'soone' right? So during the previous eting, we decided to use Phantom as the codena."
"I see. That does make sense. An existence capable of turning humans into Spirits… calling them the most important key figure would not be an exaggeration."
Mikoto nodded.
Earlier, she had already heard so things about Phantom from Shido.
"The other problem is DEM."
Hearing Kotori's words, Mikoto and Shido looked at each other.
During the school trip, DEM Industries's agents, led by Ellen, had brought them a huge threat.
"I won't let that woman hurt Senpai and the others."
When Shido rembered that Mikoto had almost had her limbs cut off by Ellen and been taken away for research, his impression of DEM Industries beca completely terrible.
"But Kotori, I don't think those two things are what's making you anxious. It's Shido, isn't it?"
Although Phantom and DEM were indeed problems, Mikoto felt that the thing truly making Kotori restless was Shido himself.
"?"
Shido pointed at himself.
"That's right. Kotori has been very concerned about Shido's health recently, hasn't she?"
Ever since the school trip, things like, "Have you suddenly felt unwell?" and "If anything feels wrong, contact imdiately," had reached Mikoto's ears more than once.
Kotori's concern for Shido's physical condition had gone far beyond the normal level.
"Co to think of it, that does seem true."
Shido also noticed sothing was off.
Kotori, anwhile, showed an expression that said [Oh no.]
"What exactly is going on, Kotori?"
Since it involved Shido, Mikoto could not ignore it. She stepped forward and asked.
However, right at that mont—
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—!
A sharp alarm rang out.
"We'll talk about this later. Shido, hurry up and get ready. It's ti for work."
Kotori took out a Chupa Chups and bit it in her mouth, then spoke with a serious expression.
The spacequake alarm.
It was the sign that a Spirit had appeared.
The place where Shido landed was the station closest to the Tengu Grand Theater.
There, he saw a giant crater like a volcanic pit.
[The Spirit reaction is moving south.]
Kotori's voice ca through the headset. Following the girl's instructions, Shido ran toward the Spirit's location.
At the sa ti, Mikoto was standing inside Fraxinus, watching Shido's movents through the large screen.
Soon, Shido reached the grand theater.
From inside, a beautiful singing voice could be heard.
Even though it was only a solo voice without any accompanint, it echoed strongly in his ears and in his mind.
Diva.
A Spirit that had been confird once half a year ago.
Fraxinus did not have enough information about either her personality or her powers. In other words, she was a completely unknown Spirit.
Under Kotori's instructions, Shido carefully tried to make contact using the choices provided by Fraxinus.
① You are so beautiful and dazzling that I couldn't help being drawn to you.
② Your singing voice—is truly wonderful.
③ The view from below is amazing.
Although the choices were still very strange, in Mikoto's opinion, the first two choices were at least much better than the ones from Yoshino's case.
However—
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
A fierce alarm rang throughout the bridge. Through the large screen, Mikoto could clearly see that Diva's affection level, ntal condition, and emotional value had all started dropping in a straight line.
"Kotori, teleport to Shido's side! Please!"
Mikoto turned and ran toward the transfer device.
No matter why Diva's affection level had fallen so quickly, leaving Shido near a Spirit who thought he was worse than a cockroach was absolutely dangerous. It could even be fatal.
After stepping into the transfer device, the next mont, the scene before her changed to the inside of the grand theater.
Mikoto looked up and saw that, during the ti she had spent moving to the transfer device, Shido had already been pushed to the edge of the stage by that Spirit.
He was hanging in midair, tightly gripping the high stage. If he fell from there, he would at least suffer comminuted fractures.
"Shido!"
Mikoto manifested a partial Astral Dress, flew into the air, and firmly caught Shido. Together, they landed on the other side of the stage.
"What exactly are you trying to do… huh?"
The girl turned around, preparing to face that Spirit's attack.
However, what entered her sight was Diva clasping her ten fingers together, eyes sparkling brightly.
"Ara ara, isn't this wonderful? How wonderful! If we're talking about a guest, this is exactly how one should be. And… you're a Spirit, right?"
Diva cheered as she lunged forward.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Even though it was not an attack filled with hostility, considering that Shido had nearly been injured because of that Spirit earlier, Mikoto still opened a barrier and blocked Diva outside.
"Eh? Why are you keeping outside? Don't you want to hear sing?"
"What is going on with this Spirit?"
Mikoto could not understand it at all.
Diva's attitude toward her and Shido was far too different.
When facing Shido, they had clearly exchanged only a few words, but her affection level had fallen all the way below that of a cockroach.
When facing Mikoto, even though Mikoto had manifested her Angel, the other party showed no hostility at all. Instead, her affection seed to be rising and rising.
"May I ask your na?"
At this point, it was impossible for Shido to conquer this Spirit. But at the very least, they needed to ask her na.
"Eh? You don't know ? I'm Izayoi Miku. What's your na? If possible, could this cute Spirit-san beco my fan too?"
"Fan? My na is Mikoto. Yakumo Mikoto."
Although Mikoto had no idea what that "fan" was about, she still told Miku her na.
"Then, Mikoto-san~, please undo your Angel."
For a mont, Miku showed a suggestive smile.
Her voice made Mikoto feel as if she had gotten drunk. Her mind began to grow hazy.
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