Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 173 173: Piercing the Heavens (Part 1)

"Phew... thank goodness. Looks like she didn't follow us."

Hiding in an inconspicuous alley, Shido poked his head out and secretly observed his surroundings for a long ti. Only after confirming that Ellen hadn't chased after them did he slowly breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well then—next up."

Turning around, Shido saw Natsumi, who had imdiately broken free from his grasp the mont she regained consciousness. Right now, she was hiding behind a large tree, showing only half her face, staring at him warily. Shido couldn't help but scratch his cheek with a bitter smile.

"Um... Natsumi."

"What is it, you idiot Shido?"

Natsumi glared at Shido and answered coldly.

"Uh..."

Being inexplicably given such a weird nickna, Shido had black lines all over his forehead. But honestly, Shido had a pretty good idea of exactly who had instilled this impression into Natsumi.

"Thanks, Natsumi."

"What?"

"Natsumi, were you trying to save back then?"

His pockets weren't that shallow. The chances of sothing accidentally falling out of his pocket and catching Ellen's attention were incredibly low. Obviously, Natsumi had intended to help him.

Even though choosing to just watch from the sidelines would have been much safer for her.

Shido's words left Natsumi montarily speechless. With a blushing face, she shrank back behind the tree and hurriedly made excuses.

"Th-That ti, it was just an accident! Who wanted to save you? Don't flatter yourself. I was just afraid that when that woman attacked you, I'd get caught in the crossfire, so I quickly ran out of your pocket. I definitely wasn't trying to save you."

"But, as a result. I really was saved because of you."

If Natsumi hadn't distracted Ellen back then. Honestly, Shido didn't have the confidence that he could have held out under her torture until she lowered her guard.

Letting out a soft breath, Shido bowed deeply to Natsumi and spoke from the bottom of his heart.

"Thank you, Natsumi. Thanks to you, I was saved!"

"..."

Probably because she wasn't used to being thanked by others, Natsumi's cheeks turned bright red. After a mont of silence, she slowly let out a breath and stepped out from behind the tree.

"You really are—a hopelessly incurable idiot."

Frustratedly grabbing her own hair, Natsumi lowered her head sowhat awkwardly and whispered.

"...I'm the one who should be saying thank you..."

"Hm? Did you say sothing, Natsumi?"

"Nothing at all."

Natsumi shook her head. As if to hide her emotions, she suddenly glared at Shido with an accusatory look.

"Also, since you had a way to deal with that Wizard, why didn't you use it from the start?! You made worry to death thinking you were going to be killed. And right when I was about to make a move, you gave a splitting headache with that weird sound. Did you do that on purpose?!"

It seed Natsumi was still quite dissatisfied about being caught in the crossfire of Shido's AoE attack.

"Uh, I'm really sorry about that!"

Although he really wanted to explain that it wasn't on purpose, he suddenly rembered a piece of advice he'd heard sowhere: "An apology works better than an explanation." Shido closed his mouth and honestly apologized.

"Hmph~ As long as you know."

Hearing Shido's apology, Natsumi's mood improved considerably.

"Itsuka Shido. I'll consider this returning the favor for when you saved last ti. Even if you say I'm being nosy and forcing a favor on you, I don't care. Let's call it even for you seeing my true face, and I won't prank you anymore. From now on, we live our own separate lives. Nothing to do with each other."

Saying that, Natsumi turned around and prepared to leave.

"Wait!"

Shido hurriedly stopped Natsumi.

"What is it? Is there still a problem?"

Natsumi turned her head, looking at Shido, and asked.

"Um..." Shido hesitated for a mont before gathering his courage and asking, "Natsumi, are you interested in... joining us? Like Yutsuki, Tohka, and the others, sealing your Spirit power and living a peaceful life?"

"I refuse!"

Natsumi's unhesitating refusal left Shido looking completely bewildered.

"Why? We really have no intention of harming you. If you're willing to join, I'm sure you'll be able to get along well with everyone."

"Ugh—"

Hearing Shido's persuasion, Natsumi's face showed a bit of temptation, but she finally shook her head.

"I know all that. But I still refuse!"

"But why?!"

Shido asked, confused.

"Because..."

Natsumi pulled down her witch's hat to hide her face and said, feeling a bit guilty.

"...If I go back now. I'll definitely get scolded horribly by Yutsuki."

"...Eh? Because of that?"

"Mhm..."

Natsumi nodded fearfully.

Hearing an answer completely different from what he expected, Shido didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Originally, Shido thought Natsumi was still guarded and rejecting their goodwill because of the coldness she had experienced from ordinary people for years. But hearing her now, it sounded more like a kid who ran away from ho because they did sothing wrong and were too afraid to face their parents' scolding.

However, he wasn't entirely unable to understand how Natsumi felt.

After all, recalling the girl's murderous aura back then, Shido couldn't deny Natsumi's words.

"True, when Yutsuki was looking for you, she was absolutely furious. The last ti I saw her that angry, I got punched through the ceiling."

"Punched through the ceiling?!"

Hearing Shido's description, Natsumi's face turned pale, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Seeing Natsumi cowering, Shido realized he had said the wrong thing and hurriedly tried to comfort her.

"I-It's fine. That ti it was because of a lot of unavoidable reasons. Actually, Yutsuki is pretty reasonable. As long as you apologize properly. Yutsuki will definitely forgive you."

"R-Really?"

Natsumi asked, seeking reassurance uneasily.

Shido patted his chest, giving Natsumi a guarantee.

"Of course, I'll go with you to apologize too. If Yutsuki really hasn't cald down, at worst, I'll take the punishnt with you."

"Oh hoh~—What a great resolve!"

Yutsuki, standing nearby, nodded, looking very pleased.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"x2

Natsumi and Shido scread simultaneously.

"Hey, don't look at like you just saw a ghost, okay? It's very rude."

Yutsuki covered her ears with both hands and complained dissatisfiedly.

"Then, Yutsuki, could you please stop appearing so silently out of nowhere?"

Shido said helplessly.

"Who's appearing out of nowhere? I just heard from Maria that your phone's GPS signal suddenly disappeared, so I got worried and ca to check. And then I just happened to see you and Natsumi hiding here."

Yutsuki shrugged and explained.

"Alright then. Even though I have definitely received your apology, Natsumi-chan. Still, accidentally stripping soone's clothes off in the middle of the street without any explanation... I have to teach you a proper lesson~"

Her hands crackling with popping sounds, Ryougi Yutsuki's face showed an incredibly warm and "friendly" smile.

Natsumi grabbed the hem of Shido's clothes, hiding behind him, trembling like a little squirrel. Shido smiled bitterly, then looked at Yutsuki with pleading eyes.

"Um, Yutsuki..."

"Shido, you said it yourself. You're taking half the responsibility for Natsumi-chan."

"Well..."

Shido smiled bitterly. Understanding the logic that words spoken are like spilled water—they can't be taken back—he accepted his fate and closed his eyes.

"...Go easy on us."

—Bonk! —Bonk!

"Ow..."

Natsumi crouched on the ground, holding her head with both hands, tears of grievance welling up in her eyes.

Yutsuki let out a refreshed breath.

"Phew... that feels better. Seeing as you apologized sincerely, Natsumi, I'll forgive you with just this. Shido, what happened earlier?"

Yutsuki asked Shido.

"Ah, actually..."

Gently rubbing his slightly swollen head, Shido explained what had happened with Ellen at his house to Yutsuki.

"That Ellen..."

Hearing that Ellen actually went straight to his house to torture information about him and Natsumi out of Shido, Yutsuki slightly clenched her fists. Her expression shifted unpredictably several tis before she slowly took a deep breath, suppressing the fury in her heart.

"Well... anyway, it's better than anything else that you and Natsumi are safe, Shido."

Confirming that neither Shido nor Natsumi were hurt, Yutsuki felt much more relieved. Imdiately after, she put on a very serious expression.

"Shido, Natsumi. I have two pieces of news, one bad and one good. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Uh... let's hear the bad news first."

Glancing at Natsumi, Shido hesitated for a mont before saying.

"The bad news is, in a few dozen minutes, DEM will drop two artificial satellites onto Tengu City."

"What—"x2

Both Shido and Natsumi gasped simultaneously.

"And it won't be as simple as just falling. According to Maria and Marina's analysis, the surface of the satellites is equipped with a large number of Bandersnatch to deploy Territories to negate atmospheric friction, and the satellites themselves are rigged with explosive formulas. Well... just think of them as super massive ti bombs, Shido." Yutsuki slowly exhaled, summarizing calmly, "Simply put, we don't even need two; if just one of them hits the ground, Tengu City, including everyone in the shelters, will be completely wiped out."

"Why would they do such a thing?"

Shido knew Yutsuki wouldn't joke about sothing like this. Hearing the despairing scenario Yutsuki described, Shido's face turned pale.

"Is it really necessary to go this far just to kill Spirits?"

"Well... who knows? If it were just about killing Spirits, the trap they set for last ti was much more efficient. Plus, as long as we leave Tengu City on Kotori's airship, this plan would be completely ruined. I don't think that Westcott guy would co up with such an inefficient thod."

Yutsuki shook her head, rejecting Shido's guess. Although it seed very bizarre, recalling the DEM eting data she read this morning, Yutsuki had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

Perhaps, their target this ti wasn't the Spirits or Shido.

"Um... what's the good news?"

Natsumi raised her hand weakly and asked.

"Well, about the good news~"

A mysterious smile appeared on Yutsuki's face. Before Natsumi could react, she lunged at Natsumi like a hungry wolf pouncing on a tiger, hugging her tightly.

"Wh-What are you doing!"

Natsumi struggled and yelled, her face bright red.

"Because of our new mber, Natsumi-chan, after discussing it with everyone, we've temporarily decided to turn tomorrow's Halloween party into a welco party for Natsumi-chan!"

"Oh? That really is good news."

Hearing Yutsuki's words, Shido was surprised at first, then quickly understood and nodded with a smile.

"Eeeeeehhhhh!!?"

Natsumi couldn't help but let out a panicked cry.

"By the way, this is already decided. No protests accepted."

Yutsuki said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Wait, when did I agree to beco one of you?! And is this really the ti to be discussing this?! The satellites are about to fall!"

"Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with this."

Shrugging lightly. What frustrated Natsumi was that, even though the situation had clearly reached a critical point, for so reason, Yutsuki still seed completely relaxed.

"Shido, now is the ti for you to truly show the results of your special training."

"Yutsuki, you don't an..."

Seeming to understand sothing, Shido widened his eyes in surprise.

"Kotori and everyone on the airship will handle the first satellite that falls. As for the second one..."

Saying that, the corners of Yutsuki's mouth curled up slightly.

"It will be up to you, , Natsumi—and Tohka and the others who will be arriving shortly. We will shoot it down in mid-air before it crashes into Tengu City."