"Huff... puff... no matter how you look at it... we should have shaken them off by now."
In a corner of a street on the side, Shido rested one hand on his knee and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the other.
"Mhm, it looks like we successfully shook off Tohka and the others."
Yutsuki, possessing a Spirit's physical elent, clearly looked to be in much better shape than Shido. She peeked out slightly to observe the surroundings. After confirming they had successfully escaped, she gave Shido a reassuring gesture.
"But I think even if we hadn't shaken them off, you probably wouldn't be able to run anymore anyway."
"Haha... I have nothing to say to that."
To Yutsuki's teasing, Shido could only show a helpless, bitter smile. Although he still had a little bit of stamina left, it was at most just enough to move normally. If he hadn't shaken off Origami, Tohka, and the others just now, he would have been completely at their rcy.
"But seriously, since you've already sealed everyone's Spirit power, you should have expected a day like this to co." Yutsuki sighed, unable to bear it, pointed her finger at Shido, and said seriously, "No matter how you look at it, in that situation, you should have chosen one person. After all, everyone was genuinely inviting you on a date. Although they probably didn't expect you to satisfy everyone's requests, you should have at least given a clear answer. Running away like that is very rude to everyone."
"Uh... you can't really say that. That's why I dragged you along and ran away together, isn't it."
In response to Yutsuki's accusation, Shido scratched his cheek sowhat awkwardly. Then, he spoke slowly in a tone that sounded like an excuse.
"Did I invite you on a date?" Yutsuki rolled her eyes at Shido in annoyance.
Uh... Shido recalled the scene from earlier, and a bit of cold sweat broke out on his back. Because indeed, when they were arguing over who he would date, Yutsuki didn't get involved. If anything, Yutsuki was dragged down by him.
"Ahem!" Coughing twice to cover up the awkwardness in his heart, Shido's brain spun, and he explained, sowhat tongue-tied, "Um... oh right! When we were helping Miku last ti, didn't you do a huge favor? I've always wanted to thank you. Although Reine's suggestion was good too, I personally wanted to give you a return gift."
"Really?" Yutsuki crossed her arms and looked at Shido with doubtful eyes. "You didn't just co up with so excuse on the spot to fool , did you?"
"How could I!"
Shido looked straight into Yutsuki's eyes and answered decisively.
Stare—
Alright, he still couldn't help but look away slightly.
However, Yutsuki didn't press the matter to the bitter end. She could tell that most of what Shido said was true.
"Mhm... you chose ... Well, personally, I'm actually quite happy about it..."
Unconsciously twirling her long hair with her finger, Yutsuki muttered to herself, sowhat absentmindedly.
"Yutsuki?"
"Ah? Oh, oh... well, since you have such good intentions, I'll gladly accept them. So? What kind of return gift are you planning to give ?"
"About that, I haven't thought of it yet..."
Seeing Yutsuki's annoyed expression that clearly said "Are you freaking kidding ?", Shido hurriedly waved his hands and explained, "B-Because, you see? I don't really know what Yutsuki wants personally. So I thought, why don't we go to the shopping street and take a look? If there's anything you want, Yutsuki, I'll buy it for you... or sothing like that."
"Ho... is that so."
It seed Yutsuki accepted Shido's explanation for the ti being. A mischievous smile appeared on her face.
"Then, no matter what item catches my eye, Shido, you will buy—it—for—, right?"
"...As long as it's within what my wallet can handle."
And so, Yutsuki and Shido dusted off their clothes and walked towards the shopping street.
"Mhm... this subtle feeling isn't really to my liking."
Yutsuki looked at the counter, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, clearly very hesitant.
Shido felt very strange at this mont.
No, it wasn't that the store Yutsuki entered was very strange. On the contrary, this was a very normal accessory shop. On the counters, with warm colors as the base tone, were various exquisite accessories like badges, hairbands, hair ornants, necklaces, rings, charms, and so on.
A store like this, in a way, was indeed very much like a store a girl would want to browse. In fact, the custors here were indeed all girls. So Shido, being a male standing here right now, was truly feeling a bit uneasy under the curious stares of those around him, as well as the various envious, jealous, and hateful glares from outside the store.
However, from the ti they t until now, Shido had never seen Yutsuki wearing any accessories. Considering she said her mindset was sowhat masculine due to the influence of her past life's mories, he thought she would never co to a place like this.
"But this is really surprising. I thought Yutsuki would plan to go to Akihabara to buy so manga or gas or sothing..."
"Today is neither the publication day of a new issue of JUMP, nor are there any new gas hitting the market. For rchandise and stuff, online shopping is fine... As for other things I want, I've basically already bought them."
"So... you plan to buy accessories?"
Shido said sowhat hesitantly. Yutsuki didn't deny it and shrugged.
"Well... rather than saying I want them, it's more like I want to give it a try. After all, normal girls usually wear a necklace or hair accessory or sothing, right? Anyway, I don't really reject this kind of thing, although I'm not super interested either. But thinking this is a rare chance, I ca over to see if there's anything that catches my eye."
"Ho..." Shido nodded, half-understanding, and then asked, "Then, is there anything that particularly caught your eye?"
"Uh, how should I put it... they're too flashy. Just thinking about wearing them makes feel weirdly uncomfortable." Looking at the dazzling array of sparkling accessories in front of her, the corners of Yutsuki's mouth twitched.
Uh, how should I put it, Yutsuki sure has it tough... Shido thought from the bottom of his heart.
Anyway, let's forget about the flashy ones. Let's look for accessories with more plain, simple colors, leaning a bit towards a gender-neutral style...
Shido looked around the store, seriously searching for targets that t the requirents.
Speaking of which, Yutsuki sotis ties her hair into a ponytail.
Seeing the hairband counter, Shido casually thought.
In Shido's impression, when it was Yutsuki's turn to cook, she had the habit of tying her hair up with a rubber band.
"Hey, Yutsuki, what do you think of this?"
A white hair tie, accompanied by a small, green four-leaf clover decoration. Well, Shido chose it because he thought of the four-leaf clover hair clip Tohka gave him before, which he now wore as equipnt when crossdressing.
"A hair tie, huh... that's within an acceptable range. And finding a rubber band when cooking is pretty troubleso too."
After taking a few glances, Yutsuki nodded in acceptance and tried tying her hair into a bunch.
Her originally sowhat loose, smooth long hair was tied into a low ponytail, giving Yutsuki a very fresh kind of beauty. Shido couldn't help but imagine the scene of Yutsuki wearing this hair tie along with an apron, cooking in the kitchen... It suited her more than just a little.
"How is it?"
"Ah? Mhm! Very cute! Paired with an apron, it would suit you so perfectly it makes one want to marry you! Uh, no, that's... Anyway, it suits you very well."
Huh? Did I just reflexively say what was in my heart out loud?
"It's so complicated... This feeling of seeming happy, yet being so sad I want to cry..."
Pressing one hand against her slightly warm cheek, Yutsuki took the hair tie off.
"...Just this one.." After struggling for a mont, she nodded as if accepting her fate.
"Are you sure just this is enough?"
On the way ho, Shido asked sowhat confusedly.
"Well, I didn't really have anything I wanted in the first place anyway."
Looking at the decorated gift box in her hand, Yutsuki lowered her head. In a corner where Shido couldn't see, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
"Phew... finally ho."
Returning ho, Shido stretched massively and said with an exhausted face.
He thought he could finally return to his peaceful daily life, who knew a disturbance would suddenly happen... Regardless, it's great that they managed to get through it safely.
—Ring, ring, ring!
"Huh, phone... who is it... It's Reine-san."
Seeing the phone number displayed on the phone screen, for so unknown reason, a bad premonition welled up in Shido's heart.
—Ring, ring, ring!
But... not answering the phone is also impossible. Shido sighed, adjusted his mood, and pressed the answer button.
"Hello, hello?"
"...My, Shin. Busy with dates today too, huh."
"Not at all, just a lot of things happened to coincide today. Should I call it an accident... it doesn't count as a mission, right?"
Shido gave a bitter smile in reply. On the other end of the phone, Reine seed to wave her hand in denial.
"No, no, everyday accumulation is very important. If you don't feed the fish you've hooked with bait... you'll beco a scumbag man."
"Fish and bait..."
Co to think of it, Kotori and Yutsuki had said similar things too. Although he really wanted to retort it as a joke, let's just forget it.
"Then... let's cut to the chase. Actually, a new ga has been completed."
"...Hah?"
Ignoring the confused sound Shido made, Reine continued her explanation on her own.
"...You know. The sequel to the masterpiece previously used for your training—'Fall in Love, MY☆LITTLE☆SHIDO'."
"Holy crap, is it that one?!"
Although it was ntioned before, let's explain it once again here—"Fall in Love, MY☆LITTLE☆SHIDO". This was a dating simulator Galga originally created and published by Ratatoskr. Its purpose was to cultivate Shido's communication skills with won, laying a solid foundation for conquering Spirits in the future.
However, in reality, Shido could responsibly say that the plot inside... was basically all a scam. A scam to the point where he almost smashed the computer back then.
"You guys really have too much free ti to invest in making gas..."
"...Mhm. Everyone made it without sleep or rest. Please definitely take a look at this work. Please head to the Fraxinus now."
Hearing this, a hint of confusion appeared on Shido's face.
"Eh? Playing the ga at ho is fine too, right? Besides, I have to prepare dinner today..."
"There's still plenty of ti until dinner. Furthermore, this ga can't be played without coming to the Fraxinus."
"Oh... understood."
Shido scratched his head in confusion, but seeming to hear the strong recomndation from Reine over the phone, after hesitating again and again, Shido finally chose to agree.
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