Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 216 216: Looking for Yumetsuki (Part 2)

"Hello sir, maid cafe~ If you're interested, please co take a look~"

On the streets of Akihabara, a woman wearing a maid outfit handed a flyer to Shido and showed him a sweet smile.

"O-Oh..."

Shido took the flyer sowhat awkwardly. After giving the maid an embarrassed nod, he walked away quickly.

"Ah... how awkward..."

Shido couldn't help but mutter with a bitter smile.

The previous tis he ca here, he was accompanying soone shopping, which was fine. But now, wandering aimlessly alone made Shido feel completely out of place here.

"But... no matter how many tis I co, I still think it's amazing..."

Shido looked around.

The walls of the buildings were draped with rows of posters featuring various moe characters. PVs of different ani played on large screens. Almost every pedestrian here carried so rchandise or dia related to otaku culture.

Shido considered himself not quite a fanatic, but thanks to his little sister, he had seen quite a few ani and played his fair share of galga. Yet, he couldn't na the characters from most of the works here.

Of course, Shido taking the train to Akihabara without even eating dinner wasn't to buy gaming rchandise.

Wandering aimlessly back and forth in Akihabara, Shido entered various shops and described Yutsuki's physical features to the staff.

However, so far, no one said they had seen Yutsuki.

"Ah... I can't find her."

Shido couldn't help but scratch his hair in distress.

But that was only natural. Akihabara was quite large to begin with, and with such a massive flow of people, trying to find one person here was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Well... thinking about it carefully, the person I'm looking for is Yutsuki. It's impossible for an amateur like to find her."

He bought a can of coffee from a vending machine in an alley. As the warm, llow liquid gulped down his throat, Shido sighed. Looking up at the night sky, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Yutsuki, are you deliberately hiding from ?"

Although this guess had no basis, a slight sense of unease still sprouted in Shido's heart.

"Dar—ling—~"

At this mont, a cheerful cheer, as lodious as a bell, ca from behind.

Imdiately after, Shido felt sothing pounce onto his back. A large, soft, and bouncy sensation was clearly transmitted to Shido's brain through his spine.

"Mi-Miku?!"

"Yes~ It's your Miku,Darling~"

Miku nodded in response, tightening her arms around Shido slightly. The soft and comfortable sensation pressed more firmly against Shido's back, even seeming to materialize as an image in his mind.

Shido felt his face turn bright red from blood rushing to it.

"Alright, alright! Get down, Miku. You're an idol, doing this is bad."

"Eh~ If it's Darling, I don't care at all."

"I'm embarrassed!"

"Ugh~ Fine."

Saying that, Miku released Shido with a look of reluctance.

"Ahem—" Shido coughed dryly with a red face before asking, "By the way, Miku, why are you here?"

"Work, work. I'm an idol, you know." Miku winked playfully and explained, "Subaru-san recently secured a new mineral water sponsor for our agency. I ca to shoot a comrcial."

"I see."

Shido nodded in realization.

"Then, when work was over and I was getting ready to head back. I suddenly saw a very familiar figure. Thinking this person looked super like Darling, I secretly followed. I didn't expect—it really was Darling~"

Miku looked at Shido with curiosity.

"But what about you, Darling? Why are you here in Akihabara? Usually at this ti, aren't you at ho making dinner for Tohka-chan and the others?"

"Uh... about that?"

Shido scratched his cheek, finding it hard to explain.

"Could it be, you ca specifically to give a surprise?!"

"Eh? W-Well..."

"What, it's not that? Darling, you're so an—"

Seeing Shido's reaction, Miku knew he wasn't here specifically to see her, and her cheeks puffed out slightly.

"I am very sorry!"

Shido decisively and honestly bowed his head to apologize.

"Well, whatever. That's just the kind of person Darling is."

Miku obviously wasn't really mad at Shido. She smiled and shook her head, then asked:

"So Darling, what brings you here?"

"Mhm, actually..."

Shido hesitated. After all, telling a girl who likes you that you're looking for another woman to her face... honestly, no matter how you look at it, he seed like scum.

However, brushing Miku off with a random excuse was also very rude. Shido thought deeply for a mont before speaking.

"Actually, I ca here looking for Hacker."

"What?! Darling ca to look for Hacker-chan?!"

Suddenly, Miku's eyes burst with an excited light.

"I want to help too!"

"Eh?"

Shido looked at Miku, completely dumbfounded.

"Aren't you angry?"

"Why should I be angry? Having a cute girl join us is sothing I couldn't ask for more."

Miku clenched her fists, eager to give it a try. Shido finally rembered that before eting him, this idol was a true yuri enthusiast.

(Ah, that makes sense. She is Miku, after all.)

A strange sense of admiration welled up in his heart, and Shido couldn't help but sigh with a bitter smile.

"Besides, the first ti I saw Hacker-chan back then, for so unknown reason, I cared about her super much."

Seemingly recalling sothing, Miku's face rarely showed a hint of complication.

"How should I put it... Even though it was our first ti eting, when I saw her, my first feeling wasn't how cute she was. It was a kind of... how do I describe it... super frustrating... like I had lost sothing. It felt just like the ti I lost to Darling in the competition."

"Miku..."

Shido looked at Miku in surprise. What Miku was talking about was the event in the previous world where Yutsuki tied with Miku in singing at the Tenou Festival and surpassed Miku in overall score. But in this world, Yutsuki only appeared after Tohka was taken away.

(Does Miku also have mories of the previous world... No... that shouldn't be it.)

Looking at Miku's expression, she herself didn't seem to know why she had this feeling of frustration.

(Déjà vu, huh...)

"So, I secretly decided that one day, I will conquer Hacker-chan with my singing and make her my fan!"

Miku said with full motivation.

Hearing this, Shido couldn't help but recall what the girl said to him in his mory of the previous world when she saw a recording of Miku's concert.

[Shido, you should know where to buy the latest version of Miku's CD from now on, right? Rember to buy an extra copy for later.]

And after that, although the girl superficially didn't seem too enthusiastic about Miku, she secretly made sure to attend concerts and various events related to Miku. In her room, she even had a shelf dedicated to Miku's CDs.

The Miku CDs he listened to were also basically all bought by Yutsuki.

Eh? Thinking about it this way, I feel like I've done sothing terrible. Shido broke a sweat on his forehead.

"Darling?"

Miku looked at Shido in confusion.

"N-Nothing."

Shido coughed dryly and said to Miku:

"Actually, Miku, Yu... Hacker has always super loved your songs. She's a super fanatic fan, even more than ."

"Eh? Is that so?"

Miku widened her eyes in surprise.

"But how do you know, Darling?"

"That's because... intuition. My sixth sense has always been very accurate! Miku's songs are so beautiful, even a dense person like is captivated by them. How could Hacker not be Miku's fan?"

Shido nodded and said with absolute certainty.

Hearing Shido's words, Miku was deeply moved.

"Thank you, Darling—I love you the most!"

"Haha..."

An inexplicable guilt welled up in his heart, making Shido turn his head with a bitter smile.

"It's amazing. Being told that by Darling suddenly makes feel very confident. Ah! Right—" Miku seed to have thought of sothing and excitedly clapped her hands. "I know how to find Hacker-chan!"

"Really, Miku?"

Looking at Miku in surprise, Shido asked excitedly.

"Mhm!"

Miku nodded confidently and said:

"Coming to Akihabara today, actually, wasn't just to shoot a comrcial. My new CD is releasing today, and Subaru-san asked to simultaneously prepare a hundred copies of albums with my handwritten signature as a fan bonus. That shop is opening right about now. If Hacker-chan really is my fan, she will definitely—"

"Will definitely go to that shop!"

Shido eagerly answered. Indeed, if that was the case, it would completely explain why Yutsuki ca to Akihabara today.

"Thank you, Miku, you're a lifesaver!"

"That's great. Then let's hurry over and hunt Hacker-chan!"

Having received Shido's affirmation, Miku said, eager to start.

"Mhm!"

Shido first nodded in agreent, then realized sothing was wrong.

(Hunt?)

"Ah, there you are, Miku!"

Suddenly, at this mont, Miku's manager—Kurebayashi Subaru—suddenly appeared before Miku and Shido.

"Ah, crap..."

Miku muttered quietly, shrunk her body slightly, and hid behind Shido.

"Hiding is useless!"

Subaru marched forward furiously, pulled Miku out from behind Shido, and looked absolutely livid.

"Suddenly disappearing right when we were getting ready to go back. Are you trying to give a stomachache from worry? I almost called the police to look for you."

"S-Sorry."

Miku couldn't help but lower her head in sha.

"Honestly..."

After a helpless sigh,Subaru turned her gaze to Shido, her tone softening slightly.

"Sorry about that, Itsuka-kun. You found Miku, right? You were really a big help."

"No, I just..."

It's because of that your idol suddenly disappeared. Shido genuinely didn't dare say that.

"You ca here to snatch Miku's autographed album, right? At this ti... it seems it's already impossible."

Subaru checked the ti on her watch. Seemingly misunderstanding that Shido had wasted ti helping guide Miku back, she felt apologetic.

After hesitating for a mont, Subaru took out a CD with "Izayoi Miku" handwritten on it from her pocket and shoved it into Shido's hands.

"Wait!Subaru-san, this is—"

Shido said in a panic.

"Don't hold back. You've helped a lot before, consider it an apology gift."

Before Shido could return the CD, Subaru grabbed Miku's hand and turned to leave.

"We have to go, Miku. We still have work next!"

"Eeeh?! I still want to go to the store and see my fans—"

"Do you want to cause a riot at the scene?! Absolutely not!"

Watching Subaru drag Miku into the car, Shido looked at the autographed CD in his hand. How to describe it... it was clearly very light, but it felt super heavy.

"Isn't this... cheating..."

The phone in his pocket rang slightly. Shido took it out and looked. Above a pile of angry texts from Kotori, there was a text from Miku.

[Subject: Do your best

You definitely have to find Hacker-chan. Also, I can make ti to co play tomorrow, rember to keep it a secret from Tohka and Natsumi-chan (>ω?* )ノ]

"Ah... Kotori, I'm leaving the house to you tomorrow."

Sighing with a bitter smile, Shido put the CD in his school uniform pocket and then patted his cheeks vigorously.

"Alright!"

After adjusting his mood, Shido hurried towards the shop Miku ntioned.

___________________

"Ah... that girl. Yes, she did co here."

At the shop counter, hearing Shido's description, Saoto Natsutake nodded lightly.

"Really? Then where is she now?"

Shido couldn't help but ask pleasantly surprised.

"Well... even if you ask , we have no reason to inquire about a custor's daily schedule."

Natsutake smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"Is that so..."

Shido slumped his shoulders in disappointnt.

"But speaking of which, that custor was really strange. She finally managed to snatch the last autographed CD, but she looked really disappointed. She even pressed , saying there were only ninety-nine copies, and asked where the other one went."

Hearing Saoto Natsutake's muttering, Shido's shoulders trembled.

"Honestly... why does it always happen when I'm about to give up..."

After quietly grumbling to himself, Shido raised his head and turned to leave.

"Thank you very much. Good luck with your part-ti job, Princess Bamboo."

"I'm the class rep! Ah, wait—why have I been called this embarrassing nickna by two strangers in a row!"

...

(Think, think carefully! Yutsuki's habits, interests, patterns of behavior—)

Strolling down the main street, Shido shook his head while continuously thinking in his mind.

At first, Shido thought Yutsuki ca to Akihabara specifically to avoid him. But looking at it again now, that didn't seem to be the case.

Yutsuki was simply doing what she naturally wanted to do.

Because Yutsuki is an otaku, she ca to Akihabara.

Because Yutsuki is Miku's fan, she went to the shop to buy Miku's autographed album.

Then following this line of thought, maybe he could predict Yutsuki's next move.

(If I were Yutsuki, after snatching the CD right now, I should feel a sense of relief, and then...)

"Ah, I'm full, I'm full! Honestly, it's all because I was delayed by Shido's matter. I queued for so long for this CD that I didn't even eat. Luckily I found a ran shop."

Suddenly, passing by a ran shop, a very familiar grumbling voice ca from the other side of the door, making Shido stop in his tracks.

Slide— The ran shop door was opened from the inside. Shido saw a girl wearing a black trench coat over a school uniform, looking like cosplay. She had a toothpick in her mouth, held an Izayoi Miku autographed CD in one hand, and was scratching her long brown hair with the other.

"Eh?"

Their eyes inadvertently t. The other party seemingly didn't expect Shido to actually appear here, and her body involuntarily stiffened.

Unable to stop himself, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the girl before him in disbelief.

After confirming it wasn't a hallucination, Shido took a deep breath, suppressed the emotions welling up in his heart, and said slowly:

"I finally found you, Yutsuki..."

"—!!"

Yutsuki finally seed to react. She hurriedly spat out the toothpick, put the CD in her trench coat pocket, struck a bizarre pose Shido couldn't understand, and declared with imposing montum:

"Everything—is the choice of Steins;Gate!"(Note: The catchphrase of Okabe Rintarou, the protagonist of the ani adaptation of the ga Steins;Gate.)

"...What's that?"

"...It's nothing, I just wanted to try saying it."