Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 13 13: A Day in the Life of Itsuka Shido (Part 1)

Late July marks the hottest period of sumr. Amidst this sweltering heat, the scenery outside looked as if it were warped by the high temperatures. Even a puddle of cold water left outside would evaporate entirely in less than half a minute.

Unless absolutely necessary, no one wanted to travel under such a scorching sun.

"Phew~ Finally ho."

Dropping his heavy luggage, a seemingly perfectly ordinary teenage boy Itsuka Shido turned on the air conditioning. Ignoring his sweaty body, he flopped down limply onto the living room sofa, letting out an exhausted groan.

"You're truly useless. It was just a school trip. Is there really a need to be this exhausted? You useless, spineless worm of a man."

A highly venomous voice echoed from behind him. The next second, his sister's bright red twintails entered Shido's field of vision. Wearing black ribbons in her hair, his little sister Itsuka Kotori stood there, sucking on a Chupa Chups lollipop.

Facing his sister's mockery, Itsuka Shido could only sigh helplessly. Feeling the soreness in his limbs ease up just a little, he slowly sat upright and retorted weakly, "If it were just a normal school trip, maybe I'd be fine. But way too much happened along the way."

Halfway through his school trip, Shido was "accidentally" captured by the Yamai Spirits to serve as the judge for a contest to 'showcase of feminine charm' which eventually led to him reverse-capturing them. Just as he was struggling with how to make a choice between them, the strongest Wizard from DEM Industries Ellen Mira Mathers showed up to kidnap Tohka. On top of that, the Yamai sisters, having realized that each was fighting so the other could survive, flew into a rage and started an all out brawl. It was basically the worst case scenario.

Although he managed to get through all the crises safely in the end, as an ordinary high school boy, enduring such a chaotic series of events... The mont he returned ho, the accumulated physical exhaustion and ntal fatigue completely crushed him.

"Well... you certainly had it rough. I was already suspicious when I saw the travel agency was registered under DEM Industries, but I didn't expect them to attack directly like that. Sorry onii-chan... I couldn't be there when it happened."

Seemingly understanding Shido's hardships, Kotori bit her lip in self reproach. Her usually energetic ribbons seed to droop slightly, reflecting their owner's dejection.

Seeing this, a helpless yet warm smile appeared on Shido's face. He gently placed his hand on Kotori's head, patting it twice comfortingly, and said with a smile, "It's fine. Knowing that Kotori was worrying so much about was a huge encouragent!"

"I-Idiot! What kind of embarrassing nonsense are you spouting?! Who was worrying about you?!"

Her face completely flushed, Kotori frantically waved her hands to deny it. But seeing her brother's smile grow even warr, she decisively turned her head away. After a mont of silence, she let out two serious, artificial coughs to ease the awkwardness and swiftly changed the subject.

"Speaking of which, how is Tohka doing? Was she affected in any way?"

Faced with Kotori's question, Shido cooperatively provided an answer as he poured himself a glass of water.

"Tohka already went back to the dorms to unpack her luggage. She seems to be in a pretty good mood."

"Seems like it. There don't seem to be any major emotional fluctuations either." Kotori breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked, "What about the Yamai sisters? How are the beautiful twin girls you just picked up doing?"

Cough! Cough! "Don't phrase it in such a misleading way!" Choking on his water at Kotori's phrasing, Shido coughed violently while denying her claim.

"Ara~ I didn't say anything incorrect."

As if counterattacking his earlier teasing, a smug smile crept onto Kotori's face.

Feeling that he couldn't possibly explain himself properly, Shido gave up with a sigh. He casually turned on the TV while replying, "As for Yuzuru and Kaguya, Reine-san took them away right after we got back. They're undergoing a basic physical examination."

"Oh, is that so?"

Kotori nodded in acknowledgnt. Although she was the commander of the battleship Fraxinus, she had recently been attending a round-table conference held by Ratatoskr. She hadn't been back long, so her knowledge of the recent events was limited to the brief reports she had received from her subordinates.

"Phew, you can ask Reine-san for the full details later. I'm going to take a bath first."

After resting for a bit, Shido felt a decent amount of his stamina return. Feeling extrely uncomfortable in clothes drenched with sweat, he stood up and headed toward the bathroom.

"Oh, I already took a bath earlier, so the water is already heated up. You can just go straight in."

Having swapped out her black ribbons for white ones, Kotori had transitioned into her cute, doting "Little Sister Mode." She inford Shido in a sweet voice while watching a program on the TV.

Appreciating his cute sister's thoughtfulness, Shido smiled as he walked into the bathroom.

(We interrupt this broadcast for breaking news. A few days ago, a massive thundercloud ford over the desert region of XXX...)

"This is..." Looking at the breaking news broadcast, a hint of grave seriousness appeared in Kotori's eyes.

-------------------scene shift divider line----------------------

"Ah~ I'm alive again."

After washing his body thoroughly, Shido slipped into the bathtub. Feeling the hot water soothe his tense muscles, he let out a groan that sounded like an old man.

The tub was filled with Kotori's favorite Bub bath salts. Even though she hadn't asked for permission from Shido the one in charge of household chores, but since he was enjoying it so much, he didn't plan on making a fuss about it.

Looking up at the ceiling, which was slightly obscured by the steam, a relaxed look settled into Shido's eyes.

Even though he was just an ordinary high school student, he sohow possessed the power to seal the powers of Spirits—the disaster-causing lifeforms of this world. And to save them, he tead up with his little sister and her sowhat eccentric crew to conquer these Spirits and make them fall for him.

Even though he had been doing this for a while now, Shido still felt it was so surreal that he sotis wondered if it was all just a dream.

He wasn't doing it to build a harem just because the Spirits happened to be beautiful girls. It was simply because he didn't want to see Spirits like Tohka had been wearing such lonely, sorrowful expressions. That was why Shido had resolutely stepped onto this path.

"Though from an outsider's perspective, I must look like a total playboy who toys with won's hearts..."

Thinking about the various terrible rumors circulating about him recently, Itsuka Shido felt an inexplicable surge of sorrow in his heart.

"Let's just not overthink it..."

Smiling bitterly and tossing those trivial thoughts aside, Shido stood up from the tub. While drying himself with a towel, he started pondering what to cook for dinner.

(Shido, can you hear ?)

Just as Shido was contemplating his duties as a househusband, his sister's voice rang in his ear. It was coming from the invisible wireless earpiece he wore to communicate with the Fraxinus crew while conquering Spirits. Because it was highly waterproof, Shido hadn't bothered taking it off before showering.

"What is it, Kotori?"

Calling her older brother by his first na ant Kotori had switched back to her serious "Commander Mode."

"There's sothing that requires our attention. I'm currently on the Fraxinus. Co up here after you finish your bath."

Although he had questions, hearing the seriousness in Kotori's voice, Shido decided to wait and ask when he got there.

---------------------after teleportation divider line---------------

"What's going on? Calling up here so suddenly... The spacequake alarm didn't go off, so it's not a Spirit, right?"

Having changed into casual clothes, Shido arrived on the airborne battleship and asked Kotori, who was sitting in the commander's seat.

"You really are stupid, Shido. Since when did you beco a single celled organism with such a simple thought circuit? Do you need to step on your head and grind my heel into it a few tis to enlighten you?"

"R-Really?!"

Responding to Kotori's sharp tongue even faster than Shido was the tall, handso man standing next to her—Vice Commander Kannazuki Kyouhei. His voice was brimming with envy and sheer excitent.

"Not you!"

"Guh! I am... deeply grateful..."

Struck forcefully in the stomach by Kotori, Kannazuki collapsed to the floor, an expression of unparalleled, absolute bliss plastered across his face.

"So... what happened that you called here?"

Looking at a scene he was all too accustod to, Shido silently mourned the fact that he was actually used to this, and smiled awkwardly as he changed the subject.

"Shin... Take a look at this footage first."

The ship's chief analyst, Murasa Reine-a woman with heavy eye bags who swayed when she walked and always looked severely sleep deprived-spoke up. For various reasons, she also happened to be the physics teacher for Shido's class.

At first, Shido had tried to correct her for constantly getting his na wrong, but after several failed attempts, he had simply accepted his fate.

Looking at the main screen, Shido witnessed an incredibly unbelievable scene.

It was satellite footage of Earth. It clearly showed a massive area of sandy desert suddenly being covered by vast, pitch-black clouds, as if darkness had physically swallowed the land. When the dark clouds dissipated, that entire region had been reduced to completely scorched, blackened earth.

"T-This is..."

A look of incomprehensible shock spread across Shido's face.

"Thunderclouds. Clouds that strike down with lightning. Did you really not know that basic fact, Shido?"

Kotori scoffed dismissively as the screen switched to another image.

Plus of black smoke rising from the scorched earth. Whether it was hills, cliffs, or flatlands, everything looked as if it had been dusted with a thick layer of industrial coal ash. There was absolutely zero sign of life; it looked as if the land itself had died. It was a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

"One week ago, a massive thundercloud suddenly materialized over the XXX desert region. After reducing the entire desert to ash, it vanished just as quickly," Reine explained the situation to a dumbfounded Shido.

"How is that possible...? Sothing this unscientific..."

Halfway through his sentence, Shido seed to realize sothing. He fell silent before muttering a single word: 'Spirit.'

"Ara~ Did you finally figure it out, idiot Shido?"

A small smile appeared on Kotori's face. Though her words were harsh, she validated Shido's conclusion.

The primary reason Spirits were labeled as disastrous lifeforms was because of the spacequakes triggered upon their manifestation, followed by the secondary disasters caused by the Spirits own unique abilities.

An unnatural, logic defying natural disaster like this was highly likely to be the work of a Spirit.

"Thank goodness the lightning struck an uninhabited desert. If it had hit a populated area..."

Without Kotori needing to say it, Shido understood the severity of the situation. If a natural disaster of this scale—one that arguably rivaled a spacequake—hit a human settlent, the city would be wiped out before anyone even had ti to evacuate.

"Just what kind of Spirit would do sothing like this?"

"Hold on... I'm currently running a search for Spirits capable of manipulating lightning..."

"Oh~ Such heavenly thunder that looks as if it could tear the world asunder! Could it perhaps be my and Yuzuru's dear friend, the Children of Lightning?"

"Affirmation. There is no doubt that only Yutsuki could accomplish sothing of this scale."

Just as the Fraxinus crew was busy typing away at their consoles in a tense atmosphere, two cheerful voices that completely contrasted the mood rang out from behind.

One was a girl with her hair pinned up, exuding an incredibly bossy attitude. A slender body that looked as if it would snap if hugged too tightly, paired with an unfittingly arrogant expression, were her defining traits.

The other was a girl with her hair tied into a long braid. She looked listless, with her eyes only half-open. Yet, her beautiful face and perfectly proportioned, model-like figure constantly drew Shido's gaze.

These two were the Spirits Shido had sealed during the school trip: the Yamai sisters, Kaguya and Yuzuru.

"Kaguya, Yuzuru... Do you know the Spirit that left these marks?"

Under the curious gazes of the crew, the Yamai sisters nodded with absolute certainty.

"Of course! She is the very first true friend I ever acknowledged, even before Shido!"

"Guarantee. That is unquestionably Yuzuru and Kaguya's good friend, Ryougi Yutsuki."

Original author's Note (PS): I don't know why, but after writing this chapter, I suddenly really wanted to stab Shido. Calm down! My right arm... the ti to break the seal has not yet co...