Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 14 14: A Day in the Life of Itsuka Shido (Part 2)

"Hey! Shido, what's wrong? You seem a bit out of it."

It was late afternoon, and Shido was currently walking down a shopping district. Walking beside him was a girl with hair as dark as the night sky that flowed down to her waist—a girl of absolute, peerless beauty: Yatogami Tohka. Her athyst eyes were looking at Shido with deep concern.

"Ah? Sorry, I spaced out thinking about sothing. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Snapping out of his slight daze, Shido felt a bit apologetic for making Tohka worry about him.

"Really? That's good then." Hearing his answer, Tohka relaxed, her eyes imdiately lighting up as she asked, "Speaking of which, Shido! What's for dinner today?"

Even though Tohka was now living in the apartnt complex specifically built for the Spirits, she still frequently ca over to Shido's house for all three of her daily als.

Seeing the sparkling golden stars in Tohka's eyes, a gentle smile crept onto Shido's face.

"Let's see... The uncle at the shop gave us so leftover potatoes. Since it's sumr, curry might be a bit too heavy... Let's go with at and potato stew (Nikujaga) and cream stew for dinner!"

"Oh—! That sounds delicious! I can't wait!"

"Uh... It's really nothing that amazing. Just standard ho cooking."

Whether she heard Shido's humble clarification or not, Tohka was already skipping ahead, humming an unrecognizable, cheerful little tune. She was clearly looking forward to it.

Watching her hair ribbon bounce happily in ti with her steps, Shido let out a "What am I going to do with her" kind of sigh, smiled, and matched her pace toward ho.

However, even though he said he was fine, as he walked, Shido couldn't help but recall his earlier conversation with the Yamai sisters.

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"Ryougi Yutsuki? Is that the na of the Spirit who caused this phenonon?"

Upon discovering that the Yamai sisters knew the Spirit responsible for turning the desert into scorched earth, they had requested to move the conversation to a private room. Seeming to have so reservations, Kaguya and Yuzuru were only willing to tell the story to Shido, his sister Kotori, and Murasa Reine, whom they had t before.

"Indeed. About half a year ago, while Yuzuru and I were traveling during our fiftieth duel, we coincidentally ran into a Spirit right as she was manifesting. A fellow comrade who commands the power of lightning—Ryougi Yutsuki."

"Emotion. I rember feeling truly shocked at the ti. I never expected soone to intervene in Yuzuru and Kaguya's battle."

Kaguya and Yuzuru seed to be lost in their mories, nostalgic expressions gracing their faces.

"That's truly hard to believe. To think a Spirit manifesting in the real world would actually run into another Spirit... the probability of that is astronomically low."

"Indeed. But theoretically speaking, it isn't impossible."

While Kotori's face showed signs of finding it hard to believe, Reine maintained a relatively objective perspective, even if she shared the sentint.

Shido, whose knowledge regarding the phenonon of Spirit manifestations was sowhat limited, accepted the story the fastest. He quickly followed up, asking:

"And then what? Did Yuzuru and Kaguya end up fighting this... Ryougi-san?"

At this question, a hint of awkwardness appeared on the Yamai sisters' faces as they coughed lightly.

"Ahem! Er... Well, you see, Yuzuru and I were in the white-hot climax of our battle, so we temporarily neglected Yutsuki's presence. As a result... we accidentally incurred her wrath."

"Addendum. We knocked over Yutsuki's lunch."

A Spirit that just manifested into the real world... was eating lunch?

Hearing this, the three people sitting across from them blanked out, exchanging bewildered glances, completely unsure of how to react.

"...Well, there's no rule saying Spirits don't need to eat."

"True. If soone interrupted my al, I'd probably flare up in anger too."

Despite feeling that the situation was incredibly bizarre, Reine and Kotori managed to convince themselves to accept it.

However, completely ignoring their reactions, the Yamai sisters continued reminiscing at their own pace.

"Yutsuki was truly terrifying back then. It looked as if she saw us as the mortal enemies who murdered her father."

"Agreent. Being struck by that lightning really, really hurt."

Sitting to the side, Shido quietly listened to their conversation, gradually piecing together the full story.

The Spirit whose lunch was ruined gave up on arguing after the Yamai sisters apologized, retreating to a corner to grieve in silence. Seeing this, the Yamai sisters felt a pang of guilt and decided to make a roasted at dish as compensation. However, because the two were currently in a state of rivalry, they ended up arguing halfway through their discussion. They decided to have a cooking contest to see whose culinary skills were superior, turning it into the tiebreaker for their unfinished fiftieth duel. And the Spirit nad Ryougi Yutsuki was inexplicably dragged in to act as the judge for this competition...

Why does this feel so incredibly familiar?

Hearing the story, Reine and Kotori cast subtle, aningful glances toward Shido.

"This is practically..."

"The exact sa situation as Shin."

Aside from the gender of the judge and the nature of the competition, that Spirit's situation was identical to how Shido had been dragged in by the Yamai sisters to act as a judge during the school trip.

"Oh! Now that you ntion it, it really is quite similar! Shido."

"Agreent. Yutsuki and Shido might unexpectedly share many similarities."

"Haha. Thanks a lot for that," Shido laughed dryly. Thinking back to everything he endured during the school trip, he couldn't help but feel a deep, unconscious sense of solidarity with this Spirit he had never even t.

"So, in the end, who won that competition?"

Shido had simply wanted to change the subject. But to his shock, Yuzuru and Kaguya suddenly contorted their faces into expressions of unprecedented agony. Pale faced, they hugged each other tightly, their bodies trembling as they let out whines of distress.

"Y-You have asked a forbiden question you never should have asked, Shido! That was the singular, absolute defeat of my entire life! I had long since banished that murky, dark mory to the deepest abyss of subspace! And now you dare force to recall it?!"

"Shiver. This is a question even my beloved Shido must not ask. Just having that mory surface in my mind completely drains Yuzuru's confidence to ever enter a kitchen again."

"Ah?! No... I didn't an to... Anyway, I'm really sorry!"

Even though he had no idea what he said wrong, sensing the disastrous mood shift, Shido wisely chose to apologize imdiately.

"Alright. Let's get back on topic. The Spirit who caused this apocalyptic-looking scene—you can confirm that it was your friend, Ryougi Yutsuki, correct?"

In response to Kotori's question, Yuzuru and Kaguya nodded affirmatively.

"Of course. How could I ever forget the ultimate technique of my own comrade?"

"Affirmation. The way that lightning was generated, without a doubt, belongs to Yutsuki."

"Then, do you know why she would do sothing like this?"

On this point, Kaguya and Yuzuru both shook their heads in confusion.

"I do not know. Based on my understanding of Yutsuki, she would never do such a thing."

"Incomprehension. Even though Yutsuki is terrifying when angry, in reality, no matter what she does, she exercises far more restraint than the Yamais."

"Perhaps Yutsuki was simply in a very bad mood at the ti."

"Speculation. Perhaps Yutsuki encountered a powerful enemy at the ti."

In reality, it was actually both...

"In that case, I guess there's nothing we need to worry about, right?" Shido said, breathing a sigh of relief after hearing Yuzuru and Kaguya's assessnt.

"Naive! Too naive, Shido! Do you really think things are that simple?"

After Yuzuru and Kaguya followed Reine out to undergo their remaining physical examinations—and confirming that their voices wouldn't reach the twins—Kotori fiercely scolded Shido.

"But, since Yuzuru and Kaguya said there's no need to worry..."

"Are you an idiot? ...Forget it. It's precisely because you have that kind of personality that you manage to earn the Spirits' trust."

Seeing Shido's 'isn't it obvious' expression, Kotori hold her head, feeling a migraine coming on, before giving up with a sigh.

"I'm not doubting the authenticity of Kaguya and Yuzuru's words. But the reality is, the Yamai sisters only interacted with the Ryougi Spirit for a single day. On top of that, half a year has passed since then. There's absolutely no guarantee that she is still the exact sa person they described. We cannot afford to lower our guard."

"Ugh..."

Even though he wanted to argue, Shido knew his little sister's logic was completely flawless from every possible angle.

"But..."

Seeing Shido hesitating to speak, Kotori seed to understand her brother's thoughts. She smiled and said, "I know, Shido. I'm just making sure we're ntally prepared for the worst-case scenario. On a personal level, I also hope Yuzuru and Kaguya are right. Right now, there aren't any imdiate causes for concern. I'll go dig up so more data first. Shido, you go keep Tohka company and prepare dinner for today. It wouldn't be good to make the Princess cry."

-------return to reality divider line--------

"What am I supposed to do now?" Shido muttered softly to himself.

"Shido just needs to do what Shido wants to do!"

Before he realized it, Tohka had turned around and was speaking to him in an incredibly gentle tone.

"Tohka?" Shido called her na, montarily confused.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the peerless beauty with purple dark hair and athyst eyes looked back at the boy in front of her. Pumping her chest full of confidence, she declared:

"I believe that Shido can accomplish absolutely anything!"

Itsuka Shido stared at Tohka in slight shock for a mont. Then, with a bitter smile, he scratched the back of his head and said:

"Seriously... what kind of knight gets comforted by the Princess?"

"Shido? Are you okay?"

Looking at Tohka's innocent, deeply concerned expression, Itsuka Shido smiled and gently patted her head.

"It's nothing. I'm going to give it my all for today's dinner! Look forward to it, Tohka!"

"Ooh! I'm really looking forward to it!"