At Tengu City Plaza, by the edge of a water fountain.
A girl stood there, rhythmically tapping her foot against the ground, looking sowhat impatient.
She wore a black trench coat that covered almost her entire body. Underneath, she sported a short skirt, a white collared shirt, and a light brown vest. A classic school crest was pinned to her chest, though it was unclear which school the uniform belonged to. Wearing this eccentric outfit, combined with her inherently flawless, peerless beauty, the girl imdiately drew the attention of countless passersby.
So slow!
Yutsuki frowned in displeasure. Out of basic dating etiquette, she had deliberately arrived ten minutes early. Yet, after waiting and waiting for half an hour, there was still absolutely no sign of the other party.
Did my condition actually scare him off?!
He said those words so seriously yesterday. I never expected that a re cross dressing condition would make him back down. Thinking of this, Yutsuki's heart filled with disdain for Shido.
Although Yutsuki's primary reason for giving Shido this condition was born out of resentnt over turning into a girl herself—wanting Shido to experience her own sorrow—if he didn't even have this level of resolve, then Itsuka Shido had absolutely no right to change, let alone save her. He would be nothing but a scumbag harem protagonist acting purely out of his own selfish desires.
Feeling that she had lost all patience to keep waiting, Yutsuki decided to leave and took a step forward. Suddenly, several figures blocked her path.
"Hey there, little lady. You're pretty cute, huh? Did your boyfriend stand you up? Then why don't you co hang out with us big bros? We can show you a really good ti~"
A group of street punks—wearing T-shirts printed with vulgar images, sporting wildly dyed hair, and covered in nose and ear piercings—ford a circle, completely surrounding Yutsuki.
Sigh... No matter what world you go to, you just can't avoid these cliché plotlines...
Letting out a soft sigh, Yutsuki scanned her surroundings. Although the people nearby had noticed her situation, it was obvious that none of them wanted to get involved in this kind of trouble. The mont they made eye contact with her, they guiltily quickened their pace and scurried away.
Just as Misaka Mikoto said in A Certain Scientific Railgun, it wasn't that they were all completely heartless. Even if they did step in, they wouldn't necessarily be able to help, and they might just end up getting hurt for nothing. It was only natural for humans to prioritize their own safety first. In fact, the lack of idiots trying to play hero or calling the cops actually made things much easier for Yutsuki.
"Out of the goodness of my heart, I'll say this right now: if you don't want to spend the next six months lying in a hospital bed, please vanish from my sight before I count to three. I am not in a very good mood right now..."
Hearing Yutsuki's warning, the punks paused for a second before bursting into collective laughter.
"Who knew this little chick had such a fiery temper! I like it!"
"One..." Yutsuki counted, her face completely deadpan.
"Exactly! These are the types of won that are the most fun to play with!"
"Two..."
She slowly lowered her head. No one noticed the vicious, lethal glint flashing in Yutsuki's eyes.
"What do you think you're doing?!!! Let her go right now!"
Suddenly, a highly lodious yet furious voice rang out. Yutsuki, whose fists were already locked and loaded, froze in surprise. To think an idiot like that actually exists... how unexpected!
But when she got a clear look at the person who had arrived, Yutsuki suddenly felt a Whoosh! as if sothing had just pierced straight through her heart. Her brain felt like it had been instantly frozen to absolute zero, completely losing all cognitive function. She stood there, stiff as a wooden board, completely unable to move.
"What do you think you're doing?!!! Let her go right now!" Seeing Ryougi Yutsuki surrounded by a group of street punks, Shido couldn't hold back his roar and charged forward.
"Ho~ So the little lady was waiting for another woman. Perfect, one girl wasn't enough for the bros to share anyway, and this new chick looks incredibly cute too. Why don't you co play with us as well?"
Seeing Shido's arrival, the punks weren't panicked in the slightest; rather, they were ecstatic. Exchanging lewd glances, they gradually moved to surround Shido as well.
"These scumbags..." Shido clenched his fists tightly, fighting the urge to smash those bastards right in the face.
"Shido! Calm down," Kotori's warning voice ca through the earpiece.
"But...!"
"What do you plan to achieve by getting into a fistfight while wearing won's clothes? Today's date will be completely ruined," Kotori said calmly. "In a mont, I'll have the Fraxinus crew create a distraction. Use that chance to grab Yutsuki and get out of there."
"Understood."
"Don't worry, Shido. Whatever you were planning to do to them in your head, I will make sure they experience it a hundred tis over, straight to the bone..."
It seed that even Kotori was incredibly pissed off about this.
"Hey! What have you been muttering to yourself this whole ti? Are you scared? It's fine, us big bros will take very good care of you." A scrawny, bamboo-pole-like punk with green hair gave a vulgar laugh and reached his hand out to grab Shido.
A profound, instinctual wave of disgust welled up in Shido's chest, and he couldn't help but take a step back.
But right at that mont, the hand reaching toward Shido was intercepted mid-air by a small, pale hand.
"Yutsuki?"
"Y-You little bitch... AAAAAHHH!"
Yutsuki, who had been completely motionless just a mont ago, suddenly struck. The punk was horrified to discover that the small hand gripping his wrist possessed such monstrous strength that it felt like it could snap his bones at any second.
"...Who gave you permission to touch her?"
A voice dripping with bottomless fury echoed slowly. Her silky brown hair floated slightly in the air. Behind that flawlessly beautiful face, the punks felt as if they were staring directly at a wrathful Vajra god glaring down at them.
"W-What the hell?! This bitch!" Just as the terrified and furious punk prepared to use his other hand to teach her a lesson, he suddenly realized that his entire body had been hoisted effortlessly into the mid-air.
"Boss... things aren't looking so good!"
"Who gives a fuck! There's so many of us, why the hell should we be scared of two little girls?! Boys, grab your weapons and get 'em!"
Every single one of them pulled a pocket knife out of their clothes and closed in on Yutsuki and Shido.
"Honestly, any random street thug can just pull out a knife... Gun and weapon control in this world is incredibly lax..."
Sneering coldly, Yutsuki swung the scrawny punk she was holding like a human baseball bat, executing a powerful horizontal sweep. Accompanied by a series of unbelievable, thunderous CRACKS!, every single punk was launched flying through the air across a massive distance, just like cannonballs.
"Holy crap..."
Shido and Kotori (on the other end of the comms) let out synchronized, utterly dumbfounded exclamations.
Suddenly feeling his hand being grabbed, Shido turned his head to see Yutsuki looking at him with absolute seriousness. "Staying here is bad news. Let's make a run for it first."
"Wait!" Feeling his hand enveloped by a soft, delicate little hand, Shido's face flushed slightly red.
Little did he know, the face of the Yutsuki currently dragging him away was already blushing tomato red.
------Successfully escaped divider line -----
"We should be fine here." After running all the way to a distant shopping street, Yutsuki stopped. She looked back at the panting, female looking person (?) who was presumably Itsuka Shido, her face filled with utter disbelief.
Long hair adorned with a four-leaf clover hairpin. A girl significantly taller than Yutsuki herself. Her face carried a touch of light, exquisite makeup. Her upper body wore a low-cut white tank top, paired with an unbuttoned dark green shirt—seemingly to avoid revealing too much of her curves, though her padded chest still accentuated delicate collarbones. This was paired with a brown, frilly short skirt. The entire ensemble radiated an incredible, undeniable charm.
...Who is this?!
"I'm sorry... I ran into so issues and ended up being late. I'm so sorry you had to go through that because of ."
The girl put her hands together to apologize to Yutsuki, a deeply guilty expression resting on her pretty face. Her slightly panting, androgynous voice gave off an incredibly bewitching aura.
(Thump, thump, thump—!)
Shut up! Why is this heart being so annoying?! I'll rip you right out of my chest, I swear! (The Author: "Calm down! If you rip it out, you're actually dead...")
"Um... Yutsuki-san."
Watching Yutsuki remain completely silent, Shido grew a bit nervous and couldn't help but use formal honorifics. Earlier, after changing into won's clothes and making his way to the eting spot, Shido had accidentally bumped into Origami and Tohka. Naturally, his outfit provoked an intense reaction from both of them. Shido felt that managing to escape from Origami's cara lens was nothing short of a miracle.
Just as he thought Yutsuki was pissed off about him being late, Yutsuki suddenly closed the distance with the montum of a breaching sea dragon. Pressing both hands firmly onto his shoulders, she stared at Shido with dead, empty eyes and spoke in an incredibly bizarre tone:
"—Who are you?"
"Who am I? I'm obviously Itsuka Shi—"
"Wait, Shido! The options are out!"
Just as Shido was about to blurt it out, Kotori frantically stopped him through the earpiece.
The Fraxinus computer provided three options at this mont:
① What are you talking about? I'm obviously Itsuka Shido.
② I am simply a beautiful guardian warrior of justice and peace who draws her sword to help those in need☆~.
③ I am Shido's cousin, Itsuka Shiori.
"All personnel, choose!"
The result: Not a single person chose ①, and the vast majority opted for ③.
"Why not pick ①? Don't the other two options imply that Shido stood her up?"
"No... It just feels like in this situation, if he reveals his true identity... Shido is going to et a very tragic end. And as for ②, the Spirit doesn't exactly look like she's in a state to take a joke right now..."
Nakatsugawa stamred slightly as he stared at the various trics displaying Yutsuki's status on the screen, gulping hard as a chill went down his spine.
At this very mont, Yutsuki's affection level for Shido had actually exceeded the threshold required for sealing. However, aside from that, all her other trics, such as mood and emotional stability, were violently fluctuating up and down. Such wildly unstable readings made everyone watching tremble in fear.
"True..."
The corner of Kotori's mouth twitched, but she obediently went with the majority vote.
"Shido, did you hear ? Choose ③."
"I-I'm Shido's cousin, my na is Itsuka Shiori. Shido had so urgent business he couldn't get out of, so he asked to co keep you company."
Under Yutsuki's empty gaze that felt as if it could pierce straight through his soul, Shido swallowed hard and answered with a slight stutter.
Hearing Shido's reply, the light gradually returned to Yutsuki's empty eyes. As if letting out a massive sigh of relief, she released Shido's shoulders and patted her own chest, muttering thankfully:
"A cousin... I see... Makes perfect sense... There's no way soone this cute could be a boy... I'm not a pervert... If he was... I would have..."
Although he only caught a few broken words, Shido felt a severe chill run down his spine. At that mont, he realized with absolute certainty that if he had given his real na just now, sothing would have happened that would have made him regret it for the rest of his life.
"I see. Honestly, that Shido-boy! If he had an appointnt, he should have finished up his troubleso business beforehand!"
"Yes, I apologize for the trouble my cousin has caused you."
"It's fine. If Shido had sothing to do, it can't be helped."
As if forcefully hypnotizing herself to accept this reality, Yutsuki casually complained for a mont, then grabbed Shido's hand and said with a cheerful expression:
"Well then, let's go on our date! Shiori-chan!"
"This girl... She's actively escaping from reality!"
Kotori's utterly speechless sigh echoed in the earpiece. However, according to her, Yutsuki's emotional state had seemingly stabilized at a rather positive level.
In response, Itsuka Shido could only offer a faint, bitter smile.
Original author's PS: As for what would have happened if he picked ①... Sorry, it's way too terrifying, I don't even want to talk about it QAQ.
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