Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 570 570: Shinji and Mio’s Past (Part 5)

(TL:from now "The world within his mories" will evolve to "Shinji and Mio's past")

It was Friday afternoon.

Bright sunlight poured through the window into the study, falling across the girl's beautiful, serene profile.

A cool sumr breeze drifted in, making the old curtains flutter. The book in the girl's hands also rustled under the wind.

After tucking her silver hair lightly behind her shoulder, Mio reopened the pages that had been blown shut and turned back to the page she had been reading earlier.

This was the Takamiya family's study room. The dim little room was filled with all kinds of books. The categories were so varied that it could basically be treated as a small library. However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that most of the books had not only never been read, so had not even had their packaging opened.

Just by looking at this room, one could imagine its owner encountering a book in a bookstore, buying it without thinking, and then, for reasons such as losing interest or not having enough ti, leaving it here to gather dust.

Perhaps to the owner, this room was sothing half-useless: sothing he wanted to read but found tiring, wanted to throw away but felt was a waste.

But to Takamiya Mio, it was a treasure trove she could not have asked for more. Thanks to these books, she, who knew nothing, had been able to quickly study and absorb information, adapting to human society in a short ti.

Because of this, Mio spent a large portion of her ti in this study. For her sake, Shinji and Mana had even specially cleaned the study from top to bottom.

However, today, what Takamiya Mio was reading was not one of the difficult books in the study, but a storybook called a light novel, one with cute illustrations and a cute cover.

Her slender index finger slid across the paper, moving between the lines, before finally stopping at a certain place.

—Because I t you, my world beca filled with color.

—The once noisy rainy days beca so quiet. The scorching sunlight beca so passionate. Even in the bitterly cold winter, warmth exists… With you by my side, everything is so happy.

—Holding a feeling as brilliant as a gemstone, I could not help blurting out to you:

"…I…like… you."

With a trace of confusion and incomprehension, Mio read the line from the book one word at a ti.

"...No."

After a mont of silence, Mio slowly shook her head, turned the novel in her hands back to the beginning, and began reading again.

Words were complicated and mysterious things.

They seed plain and ordinary on the surface, but at the instant they were spoken, they could sotis produce emotions that had never been recorded anywhere.

The first ti Mio had felt this was when she received the na "Takamiya Mio." When that na was spoken from her mouth, her empty heart was filled. Whenever soone called her by that na, an indescribable satisfaction would rise in her heart.

The second ti she had felt this was when she said the words, "I like you."

Her heartbeat gradually quickened, her body temperature rose, her cheeks grew a little hot, and she felt lightheaded, as though her feet were no longer touching the ground. Although it sowhat resembled symptoms of illness, Mio felt neither unease nor fear.

She wanted to experience that feeling again. Her heart could not help yearning for it.

However, unlike when she received her na, when Mio said the sa words again, she could not reproduce the feeling from that ti.

"…I… like… you."

Was there so mistake in her pronunciation? Mio flipped through a dictionary to check.

"…I… like you."

No.

Mio's expression beca sowhat downcast and disappointed.

"Where… exactly is it wrong?"

Mio tilted her head in confusion.

According to the book, the feeling derived from those words should be called happiness. But no matter how detailed the book's explanation was, no matter how happy the characters in the story were, she still could not taste the sensation she had felt at that ti.

"Simply saying it out loud is not enough… Are there other conditions missing?"

Guessing this, Mio put the book down and turned her gaze toward the teddy bear plush placed beside the desk. It was the gift Shinji had given her a few days ago.

Holding the plush with both hands and lifting it to eye level, Mio said very seriously,

"I like you."

...

"My cheeks are a little hot… I see…"

After letting out a long breath, Mio's cheeks turned faintly red.

Although her body's reaction was not as obvious as it had been back then, it was indeed the sa kind of feeling.

"Because I was looking at the plush while speaking… I suddenly rembered Shin's face… In other words… only when Shin is beside … do I react to 'I like you'…?"

As she analyzed her own heart, for so reason, Mio felt her face growing hotter and hotter.

They were clearly the sa words. Why would they produce such a great difference depending on the situation?

"…Could I have been placed under so kind of magic…?"

Playing with the teddy bear in her hands, Mio could not help muttering.

However, since she understood the reason now, continuing to stay in the study would only be a waste of ti. And so, Mio rose from the wooden chair, hugged the plush, and walked toward Shinji's room.

—Oh, hello, Mio… weather… going out…

On the stairs, she faintly heard a voice like that coming from Shinji's room.

(Is Shin… calling ?)

Mio could not help feeling curious and puzzled.

She went upstairs and opened the door to Shinji's room. She saw the boy currently standing in front of a full-length mirror with a troubled expression, speaking to himself in the mirror.

(What is Shin doing?)

"Please go out with … no, why am I using polite speech? Cough, cough—"

Completely failing to notice that Mio had entered the room, Shinji retorted to himself as if he were performing stand off cody. Then, after clearing his throat, he looked at the mirror with a serious expression and said,

"Mio, will you go on a date with ?"

(Date?)

Mio recalled the dictionary definition—an arranged eting, often referring to a man and woman going out together.

"—Mm, okay."

Since she had no reason to refuse, Mio nodded and agreed.

"…Eh?"

For so reason, when Shinji turned around and saw her, his mouth fell open blankly, his expression filled with shock.

"W-When did you start standing there…?"

"Just now—speaking of which, Shin, when are we going?"

"I see… uh? W-What did you say…"

Looking at the completely confused Shinji, Mio asked in puzzlent,

"I said, when are we going on the date?"

"…"

Shinji's eyes widened blankly, and he froze in place like a stone statue.

"Shin?"

"Ah, um… t-this Sunday… how about it?"

Finally reacting to Mio's voice, Shinji stamred out a proposal.

"I understand. Then, see you on Sunday."

A smile could not help rising to Mio's lips. After lightly nodding, she turned and left the room.

A few seconds later, Mio heard an unintelligible cry co from inside Shinji's room.

"…Strange. I still haven't confird it with Shinji… Why did I leave?"

Mio, who only realized this half a beat too late, could not help feeling confused. The mont she had heard Shinji say the word "date", she had unconsciously forgotten her own original purpose completely.

Hugging the plush in her arms tightly, Mio muttered helplessly to herself.

"Date… a man and woman going out together… date… a man and woman going out together… wh-what is happening?"

As she thought over the special nature of the word "date", Mio suddenly discovered that her face had beco as red as if it were on fire.

"S-Strange… I clearly didn't say 'I like you.' Wh-Why did this feeling suddenly appear…? And the last ti we went on a date, nothing happened at all."

The last date.

After treating the previous outing with Shinji as a date, Mio discovered that the feeling in her heart had inexplicably grown even stronger.

"So strange! So strange! So strange! I must have misunderstood sothing sowhere."

With her mind in chaos, Mio hurriedly ran back to the study and took out a thick dictionary to read through.

"Hm~ hmhmhm… I'm ho."

At that mont, Mana, who had finished club activities, walked into the house while humming, a bamboo sword slung over her back.

Very soon, she found Mio in the living room, buried in a dictionary.

"Mio-san, what are you doing?"

"Mana."

Mio could not help turning a pleading gaze toward Mana.

"What is it? Is there sothing you don't understand? If you don't mind, you can discuss it with ."

Mana patted her small chest, speaking with great confidence.

"Really? That would be a great help."

Hearing Mana's answer, Mio's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

"Language really is very complicated. Although I want to understand it, depending on the situation and the changes in the emotions that reside within it, its aning also changes. I thought I understood what it ant, but after so ti passed, I beca unsure whether my understanding was correct…"

"Um, sorry, I don't really understand. Could you tell what happened?"

Mana asked with cold sweat on her face.

In response, Mio pointed to a word in the dictionary and said,

"Shin asked whether I wanted to go on a 'date.'"

"Oh, I see. Nii-sama invited you on a date… WHAAAT!!?"

Mana nodded, then reacted half a beat late.

"Date… as in a man and woman going on a date? Not date as in the calendar date, right?"

"I am not sure… At first, I also thought it was the latter. But when I calmly thought about it, I can et Shin every day, so there is no need to specially arrange a ti to et. Although I feel there are other possibilities, I already agreed, so it would be difficult to ask him directly."

After hearing Mio's explanation, Mana remained silent for a long ti before helplessly pressing her forehead.

"…I see. Nii-sama, huh… I never thought that block of wood would be more proactive than expected…"

After thinking for a mont, Mana answered Mio.

"Mio-san, I believe what Nii-sama ant was the forr."

"Why?"

"Um, Nii-sama probably wants to take his relationship with you one step further… Not friendship, but romance."

"Does that an Shin wants to mate with ?"

"—Pfft!"

Mana choked and sprayed at Mio's words.

"Um… although that's essentially not wrong, a date should be the stage before that. It's probably about wanting to express his affection to you…"

Sowhat troubled, Mana scratched her head. Unable to think of a suitable way to put it, she could only vaguely skip over that topic.

"Then, Mio-san, what do you think of Nii-sama? Since you agreed, does that an you also have affection for Nii-sama?"

"Mm… affection… I do not know… It's just that recently, whenever I think of Shin or am together with Shin, my cheeks inexplicably grow hot, and my heartbeat speeds up… um… if I am not mistaken…"

Unable to stop herself from using the dictionary to cover her reddened face, Mio shyly whispered,

"I… probably… like… Shin."

"Ah—damn it! Why are you so adorable!"

Looking at Mio, who was undoubtedly emitting an air of sweetness, Mana blushed as if she had been force fed a mouthful of dog food.

"All right! I understand. Although I can't let Nii-sama walk down a criminal path, if he's going through proper procedures to date you, I won't be so tactless as to interfere."

Or rather, if he misses this chance, Nii-sama might stay single for the rest of his life. Mana added silently in her heart.

"Allow to lend you a hand!"

"Mm, thank you, Mana."

"All right! Since that's decided, then imdiately… hello—Haruko? There's sothing I want to discuss with you—" (TL:Haruko is Kotori's mother,and Shinji's best friend Itsuka Tatsuo is her future husband~ and then they adopted Shido~ quite ironic huh?)

Looking at Mana, who had suddenly ignited with fighting spirit and started making phone calls, Mio gently placed both hands on her chest, her heart filled with anticipation.

"Together with Shin… a date."