Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 442 442: Cyberspace Training

"Hey, Shido, wake up."

"Mhm..."

Hearing the voice in his ear, Shido groggily opened his eyes.

Before him was a blue sky with white clouds, and Yutsuki's sowhat worried face.

(Ah... I see. Did I die again?)

Recalling his mories before losing consciousness, Shido thought gloomily.

This wasn't the real world, but a cyberspace configured by Reine and the others using the Fraxinus EX's main computer, based on the ga Fall in Love! My☆Little☆Shido 2.

Since the incident with Maria and Marina passed, the ga itself had been destroyed. But the cyberspace had been successfully restored through Yutsuki's efforts, becoming a training ground similar to a Hyperbolic Ti Chamber.

Because Kotori sent the airship back to headquarters for modifications, Shido hadn't trained here for several months. It wasn't until recently, after the turmoil of the Mukuro incident settled down, that he continued his training under Yutsuki's arrangent.

But to be honest, compared to the previous two training sessions, the task Yutsuki assigned Shido this ti was simply on a hellish level.

—Don't die.

Just few simple, straightforward words.

The first training was for Shido to use Angels and Spirit power more freely. The second training was learning to protect others using the powers of the Spirits in various crisis scenarios. But this ti, Yutsuki demanded that Shido survive for a certain period of ti while being hunted down by her, or defeat her, under the condition that he was forbidden from using Kotori's healing ability.

Honestly, although he sowhat had a premonition, when it actually started, Shido couldn't help but sigh that Yutsuki's training was never easy.

The first ti, Shido was still confident in his strength and chose to fight Yutsuki head-on. However, before he could even summon an Angel, Yutsuki had already knocked him to the ground with a single punch, followed by a crackle of electricity that killed him instantly.

Of course, no matter how strict Yutsuki was, she couldn't let Shido actually die. So as a substitute, every ti Shido accumulated a certain amount of damage, he had to experience that terrifying punishnt of spinning like he was in a washing machine once, and then vomit his guts out.

The second ti, having experienced that terrifying punishnt, Shido decisively discarded any thoughts of being tender toward won. He imdiately summoned an Angel and fought Yutsuki with all his might.

And then he died again.

Facts proved that while Shido was gradually growing, Yutsuki was also getting stronger at an astonishing speed. No matter what Angel Shido used, Yutsuki could predict and formulate counterasures relying on her Future Calculation ability. As long as Shido showed a sliver of an opening, he would be rcilessly killed in one hit by Yutsuki.

The reason Shido could trade blows with Yutsuki before was entirely because Yutsuki was "competing" rather than "fighting to the death." Without restrictions, Yutsuki's combat experience and thods were far superior to Shido's.

Subsequently, the sa situation repeated a third ti, a fourth ti, a fifth ti... until after the tenth ti, Shido finally saw reality, chickened out, and chose to run away.

But after experiencing it, Shido realized that the difficulty of this choice was even harder than facing Yutsuki head-on.

The previous escapes rely involved taking the Spirits's family mbers to flee a dangerous location. But in this escape, as long as the ti wasn't up, Yutsuki's pursuit would continue endlessly. Shido couldn't relax no matter where he ran; there was no place that was safe.

Poisoning, sniping, slashing, accidents—there was basically nothing Yutsuki wouldn't dare to do. Before Shido could sum up the lessons from his previous death, Yutsuki imdiately used a completely different thod to finish him off. Shido even suspected whether Yutsuki was just bullying him under the guise of training.

And this ti, the twenty-first training session, also ended with Shido's death.

"Hey... Yutsuki?"

"What's wrong?"

"Could it be that I'm resting on your lap right now?"

Feeling the soft sensation at the back of his head, Shido asked curiously.

"Mhm, yeah." Yutsuki nodded with a bitter smile, gently stroking Shido's hair as she said, "After all, even though it's training, I left you with so many terrible mories. Consider this a small compensation. Sorry about that, Shido."

"I see, I didn't expect there to be such a hidden reward. A lap pillow from Yutsuki... all the trauma I suffered before are worth it now."

A smile appearing on his lips, Shido sighed with an expression full of satisfaction.

"Oh? You've gotten quite thick skinned, Shido. You used to be so shy you'd jump right up."

"After being tornted so many tis, I don't even have the energy to be shy anymore."

Shido shrugged helplessly.

"How are you feeling? Since you're awake, you should probably get up from my lap now."

"No, let rest a little longer."

"...Well, whatever. I'll make an exception and let you act spoiled this ti."

To Shido's request, Yutsuki rarely didn't refuse, nodding gently.

"Aweso~"

Cheering happily, Shido shifted his body slightly, adjusted his head to a comfortable position, and closed his eyes contentedly.(TL:Bro is not hiding it now lmao)

Feeling Yutsuki's small hand gently stroking his head, the sensation of her fingers gliding past was incredibly soft and comfortable, making Shido feel very safe and peaceful inside.

Now he seed to understand why Tohka and the others loved having their heads patted so much.

"Ahem—"

Just then, a light cough ca from his ear. Shido turned his head and found Maria and Marina standing nearby, watching him.

"Shido, is Yutsuki's lap pillow really that comfortable?"

Maria stared at Shido's face and asked with a displeased expression.

"Of course it's comfortable, can't you see he's completely forgotten our existence?"

Marina shrugged with a wicked smile.

"—!?"

Realizing that his behavior just now had been witnessed by the two of them, Shido's cheeks instantly flushed completely red. He hurriedly got off Yutsuki's lap, stood up, waved his arms, and shouted with full vigor,

"Alright! I have completely revived! Then let's continue the training, I will definitely escape successfully this ti."

"He's embarrassed."

"He's embarrassed."

"His way of covering it up is so easy to see through."

The three couldn't help but roast Shido's simple reaction.

"Ahem—"

Shido coughed awkwardly, and with a hint of wanting to change the subject, asked Yutsuki.

"Hey, Yutsuki, although it's a bit weird to ask now, why do you want to do this kind of training? Could you tell ?"

"Mhm, sure." After thinking for a mont, Yutsuki nodded and explained, "Actually, there's no complicated reason. To put it simply, soone might want to kill you next."

"Want to kill ? Why?"

Shido widened his eyes in surprise.

"Shido, do you rember what DEM's goal is?"

Without answering Shido's question directly, Yutsuki asked a question in return.

"They want to make the Spirits fall into despair and Inverse, and then obtain the Sephira Crystals inside them, right—"

Mid-sentence, Shido seed to understand Yutsuki's intent. He involuntarily held his breath. After thinking for a long ti, he asked with a grave expression,

"Are you saying... DEM plans to kill to make everyone Inverse all at once?"

"Exactly. After all, this is the simplest and most effective thod for DEM."

Yutsuki nodded silently.

As Shido's bonds with the Spirits deepened, his importance in their hearts grew as well. From the previous example of Tohka Inversing, one could see just how terrible the impact would be if Shido, who acted as the Spirits's emotional pillar, suddenly disappeared.

"How could this be..."

Realizing his goodwill was being used by the enemy, Shido clenched his fists unwillingly.

"Furthermore, DEM is probably not the only one who wants your life."

Hearing Yutsuki's words, Shido was suddenly stunned.

"Eh? Besides DEM, is there soone else who wants to kill ?"

Hearing Yutsuki's words, Shido asked in confusion. Besides DEM, he couldn't rember making any other enemies.

"Kurumi! I'm talking about Kurumi!"

Seeing Shido's clueless, silly look, Yutsuki reminded him speechlessly.

"That girl has wanted to kill you from the very beginning to take the Spirit power inside you for herself. Right now, besides Kurumi and Phantom, all the known Spirits have already been sealed by you. Not counting the possibility of a deeply hidden, undiscovered Spirit like Mukuro, basically all the Spirits's power is stored inside your body. It's the perfect ti to strike. To Kurumi, the current you is no different from a pig waiting to be slaughtered."

"Uh..."

Hearing Yutsuki's analogy, Shido couldn't help but have black lines on his face. anwhile, Marina beside them couldn't hold back a snicker.

"I see, so this training is to teach how to deal with assassinations from DEM and Kurumi?"

"Well, that's it." Yutsuki nodded and said, "Not letting you use Kotori's healing flas is the sa. Although it's a good trump card for saving your life, you absolutely cannot rely on it too much. You must never think it's okay to lose an arm or sothing just because you have it. You got that?!"

Saying this, Yutsuki seed to recall the ti Shido used his body to block Mukuro's attack, and she emphasized her tone to warn him.

"...Haha, understood."

To this, Shido could only nod with a dry laugh.

"In short. As long as I survive, it's fine, right! I've rested enough anyway, let's start the training, Yutsuki!"

Having understood Yutsuki's good intentions, Shido didn't plan on complaining about the arduous training. He patted his cheeks, pumped himself up, and said.

"No, for the next training, I won't be your opponent."

However, to the fired up Shido, Yutsuki shook her head.

From the previous training, Yutsuki knew very well that besides his vigilance and reaction speed has been improving slightly from the beginning, Shido hadn't grown at all in other aspects.

The reason didn't lie with Shido, but with herself. As Shido's training instructor, she knew Shido's personality, habits, and way of thinking when facing various situations like the back of her hand. Coupled with her Future Calculation ability, it was impossible for Shido to escape her assassinations. Continuing to train like this would only create unnecessary psychological trauma.

No, actually, psychological trauma had probably already been created.

Recalling the training just now, Yutsuki had actually planned to let Shido off. Otherwise, she wouldn't have warned him; a quiet push from behind and it would be ga over for Shido.

That gun-shooting pose was just a little joke Yutsuki made. But who would have thought Shido would overreact, summon an ice wall with his Angel, and back up right into the truck on his own.

(Am I so kind of monster?)

To be honest, Yutsuki took quite a hit from that at the ti. She wanted Shido to learn how to protect himself, but she didn't want Shido to be afraid of her.

"Eh? Why?"

Shido asked in confusion.

"Because..."

Yutsuki awkwardly looked away. She didn't want to be hated by Shido or sothing, she felt like saying it out loud would an she lost.

"Because the goal has already been achieved. The training just now was to enhance your reaction ability to crises, and incidentally prevent your over-reliance on the healing ability. In reality, my combat style is sowhat different from both DEM and Kurumi, so it's not very suitable as a reference. Next is targeted training."

"Ugh... Then just one more ti, just once! I will definitely complete the mission."

Shido said, sowhat unconvinced.

To Shido's persistence, Yutsuki took a few steps back, looking at him with a look of disgust.

"Wow... Shido, do you really like being killed that much? You didn't awaken so special fetish, did you?"

"That's not it!! I got it, let's just move on to the next training."

Seeing Yutsuki misunderstand, Shido hurriedly denied it.

"That's right. Even in a virtual world, ti is precious. Now then—Marina."

"Okay~"

Replying to Yutsuki in a relaxed tone, Marina Arusu walked up to Shido.

"I will be your opponent next, Itsuka Shido."

A wicked smile appearing on the corner of her mouth, Marina snapped her fingers. The scenery inside the virtual world switched again, returning to the Tengu City Shido was familiar with.

No, calling it familiar seed a bit wrong. In this simulated map, Shido couldn't see the citizen NPCs like in the real world. Instead, on buildings, in shops, by trees, on the streets—in every corner of the city, Shido could see nuns in black outfit looking exactly like Marina.

Estimating it, the number seed to be no less than a thousand.

"Hahaha, we can fight again!"

"I've been annoyed with you for a long ti, Shido. This ti I can finally beat you up properly."

"Hit him in the face! Make sure to hit him hard in the face!"

"Beat him until he cries!"

"..."

Hearing the wicked laughs coming from all directions, a drop of cold sweat involuntarily appeared on Shido's forehead.

"Um...Marina-sama, did I do sothing to make you angry?Aha..ahaha..."

"My, not at all." Marina shook her head and answered with a smile, "This is just a performance to increase the tension. I definitely don't want to beat you up because I'm annoyed with you. Although I personally sympathize, in order to maximize the training's effectiveness, I will try my very best to kill—you!"

(You definitely want to use your public mission for private revenge!)

Shido thought, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"It's fine, Shido."

Right at this mont, Maria suddenly walked to Shido's side, comforting him with a gentle face,

"Even if you are dismbered and killed by onee-chan, when you resurrect, I will heal you with a lap pillow."

"...Thank you very much. Maria."

Shido remained silent for a long ti before stiffly squeezing out a word of thanks. He was certain that both Marina and Maria had been corrupted by Yutsuki.

(But... this is indeed highly targeted training.)

Shido couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

This move of Marina's was the data clones she used when she invaded the Fraxinus. Although each individual wasn't strong, they had the advantage of numbers. In this regard, it indeed shared similarities with the clones Kurumi created using her Het-(The Eighth Bullet).

(Eh? Speaking of which...)

For so reason, looking at the murderous Marinas before him, Shido suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Now then, the training begins. Prepare yourself, Itsuka Shido!"

"Wait! Wait a second, Marina!"

Looking at the swarming Marinas, Shido suddenly thought of sothing and hurriedly called for a stop.

"Pause. Marina."

Yutsuki stopped Marina and asked Shido,

"What is it, Shido?"

"It's nothing, it's just that before we fight, I suddenly thought of sothing I wanted to confirm with Marina."

"Hm? What is it?"

Marina tilted her head in confusion.

"Um... how should I put it."

Observing Marina's expression, Shido hesitated for a mont before asking carefully,

"Marina, do you have any other twin sisters over at DEM?"