"Ah... finally made it ho."
Shido returned to his front door looking completely pale, letting out a long sigh with a tiredness he had never felt before.
On the way back, Yutsuki was completely lost in her own world. She kept loudly reciting the lines of "Shiori" from their non-daily date right on the street. Although Shido thought it was rare to see Yutsuki express her happiness so openly, the shock to his heart along the way was really a bit too scary.
"Hm, where is Maria?"
Looking around a bit, Shido suddenly noticed that Maria, who usually observed him from a quiet corner, was nowhere to be seen.
Co to think of it, the black Arusu he found at noon and the white Maria shouldn't be the sa person...
"What's wrong, Shido? You look worried."
At this ti, Yutsuki, who had finally snapped out of her daze, saw Shido's expression and asked in confusion.
"Yutsuki, do you know where Maria is?"
"Maria? I don't know, but she's not in the room right now."
Yutsuki shrugged and answered.
"By the way, didn't you go looking for her at noon? How do you not know where she went?"
"Uh... I did find her, I guess. But it felt a bit weird. She felt different from Maria."
Shido scratched his cheek and gave a bitter smile. He did et the black Arusu on the roof. Even though they looked almost exactly the sa, her personality and actions were very different from Maria's.
"...To use 'weird' to describe finding soone. You're really sothing, Shido."
Yutsuki raised an eyebrow. She probably guessed that Shido most likely ran into Marina.
"Haha..."
Shido laughed awkwardly.
Yutsuki didn't say much else. She tapped the bridge of her nose lightly with her finger, stayed quiet for a mont, and then said.
"Maria... Hm? She's on the school roof. Her position hasn't moved much. Is she still not done with her school stuff?"
"Hm? How do you know where Maria is, Yutsuki?"
Shido looked at Yutsuki, completely confused.
"Well... I used a little trick. It's nothing you need to worry about."
Yutsuki waved her hand to brush it off, and then asked Shido, "But is it okay to just leave Maria there? Dinner is going to be ready soon."
"That's true... It's getting dark, too."
The sun was slowly setting in the west. Even though this was a computer world, the evening sunlight cast soft colors just like in reality.
It was going to be dark soon. Letting Maria co back alone by herself then... he really couldn't help but feel worried.
"I'll go pick Maria up."
"I knew you would say that... Forget it, I'll go with you."
Yutsuki sighed helplessly, put her shoes back on, and got ready to head out.
"Co to think of it... this might be the first ti just the two of us have walked together on the road to school."
Hearing Shido's words, Yutsuki also spoke with a bit of emotion.
"Yeah. Usually on your way to school, you're enjoying the harem battlefield of Tohka, Origami, Kaguya, and Yuzuru, while also experiencing the murderous glares of the male students who want to chop you into pieces. In a way, you have it pretty rough."
"It's so great that you understand , Yutsuki!"
"By the way, that group of students giving you murderous glares includes too."
"Give back the montary feeling of being moved I just had!"
"Well~ Just joking."
Seeming to enjoy teasing Shido, a cheerful smile appeared on Yutsuki's face.
Geez... Shido couldn't help but give a helpless smile.
However, he felt surprisingly relaxed inside.
Unlike the fast heartbeat and nervousness he felt around the other Spirits, when he was with Yutsuki, he felt more of a sense of peace and relaxation.
"I feel like I'm really happy to be evaluated like that, but also a bit frustrated..."
"Pfft! Y-Yutsuki, can you please stop reading my mind?! It's really embarrassing."
"It can't be helped, you're just so simple that you write your thoughts all over your face. It's hard to pretend I don't see it."
Yutsuki waved her hand helplessly.
"Ugh..."
Just as Shido felt a little rebellious and tried to put on a poker face, Yutsuki shook her head and asked him.
"So? Are you worrying about Maria again?"
"...That's really true. Looks like I need to find a book on how to hide my emotions later."
Seeing Yutsuki figure out what was on his mind so easily, Shido gave a bitter smile. He relaxed his shoulders and said with so worry.
"I've always been worried... if I can give Maria the answer she wants."
"Well... as the person in charge of a plan, occasionally worrying that your own mistakes might lead to failure is understandable."
Yutsuki nodded in understanding, then patted Shido's shoulder, a confident smile on her face.
"But, if it's Shido, you will definitely succeed."
"You have quite a lot of confidence in , Yutsuki... It's a bit surprising."
"Well, unlike you who always has baseless confidence, my statents are backed up by solid reasons."
Feeling like he was being casually put down while being encouraged, Shido's expression was a bit complicated.
"First point, unlike a normal data program, Maria already possesses a thinking pattern comparable to humans. Judging from the past few days, that child's growth, especially in terms of emotions, has been very obvious. You can see that too, right, Shido?"
Mhm... that's true. Shido recalled the past few days. In just three short days, Maria had indeed undergone very noticeable changes. This made Shido nod in agreent with Yutsuki.
"Second point, because Shido is genuinely treating Maria like a real girl."
Even though in this electronic world, Arusu, who has admin privileges, wouldn't be in danger even if a nuclear bomb went off, Itsuka Shido still genuinely worried about her and went looking for her because 'it's unsafe on the roads after dark'—a concern that almost makes you want to laugh.
This is Shido's naive side, but to Yutsuki, it was also his cute side.
He doesn't treat her as the admin of the world, nor as an enemy who trapped them in a computer world. Itsuka Shido treats Maria completely as a real girl.
Because of this, Shido is able to earn everyone's trust.
"Really... Shido is truly a sinful man..."
Yutsuki couldn't help but mutter softly.
"Hm? Did you say sothing, Yutsuki?"
"Nothing at all~ Then, the last point."
After brushing it off with a cheerful tone, Yutsuki looked into Shido's eyes, a smile on her face.
"Shido is not alone."
Yutsuki herself had said before that love is a kind of reliance. It's not a one-sided giving, but mutually asking for and giving to each other. Although it was a bit embarrassing, Yutsuki always stuck to her beliefs.
Maybe trying to find the answer alone would often lead to dead ends. But with another person by your side, even if you take the wrong path, they can point it out and correct it.
"Tohka, Origami, Yoshino, Yoshinon, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Kurumi, Miku, and . We didn't get locked in this world just because we got dragged into your ss, Shido. We decided to co here because we wanted to help you. So, I'm not just saying this because I have faith in you, but because with everyone here, we will definitely succeed."
Hearing Yutsuki's answer, Shido suddenly understood, scratching his head with a bit of sha.
"You're right, I really asked a aningless question. I will definitely make Maria understand what love is." Taking a slow breath, Shido's eyes filled with confidence again. "Thank you, Yutsuki."
"You're welco."
Yutsuki smiled and shook her head.
While they were chatting, before they knew it, Shido and Yutsuki had arrived at the school gate.
Suddenly, Yutsuki sped up her steps slightly, walked in front of Shido, and stopped.
"Shido, as a return gift for just now, you have to answer a question for too."
"What question?"
Looking at the slowly setting sun, Yutsuki turned her back to Shido and asked with a slightly confused tone:
"If there were two sisters—the younger sister is very close to you, and the older sister is your enemy—and they were both drowning in a river, but you could only save one. Who would you choose to save?"
Shido couldn't help but think. Yutsuki's question was similar to the famous psychological question of whether to save your girlfriend or your mother first. But Yutsuki clearly added a very obvious bias in the sister setting. Enemy and friend, it was like the answer was directly stated in the question. He believed no one would put their good friend in danger just to save an enemy.
Although he was a bit confused as to why Yutsuki would ask such a question, Shido could feel that Yutsuki was lost about this, and chose to rely on him to ask for an answer.
So, all Shido had to do now was seriously answer with his own thoughts.
"I would go save the younger sister. After all, soone who leaves a friend to die is the worst kind of scum."
"Mhm, true..."
It was a natural answer, but when she heard Shido say it out loud, Yutsuki seed subtly down.
"And then, I'd ask you to go save the older sister too."
"Eh?!"
"Because, even if she and I are enemies, she is still the older sister. If the older sister drowns, the younger sister would definitely cry her eyes out. And , who makes a girl cry, would still be the worst kind of scum."
Under Yutsuki's surprised gaze, Shido shrugged helplessly.
Since neither of the two options worked, naturally, he just had to find a third option.
"The question didn't say I was the only one there, right? Assuming it's like right now, where we can each only save one person, if the two of us separately go save the older sister and the younger sister... then wouldn't everyone be happy—ouch, ouch, ouch!"
"The question wasn't ant for you to find loopholes! Where would you find such a convenient situation, are you looking down on reality, you bastard?! If this were a test, this answer would definitely get zero points."
Yutsuki pinched Shido's cheek and said with a dissatisfied face.
"Ugh... Even if I got it wrong, you don't have to do this."
Shido rubbed his red, pinched cheek feeling a bit wronged.
"No, if we apply it to the current situation, I can give this answer a perfect score."
"Then why did you pinch ?!"
"Nonsense. To think soone like Shido would dare to play the 'lower expectations first to raise them later' trick on . This is punishnt~"
Just because of that? Watching Yutsuki turn her head and walk into the school, Shido didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
_____________________________________________
"Yo, Maria, you really are here."
"Shido... you found ."
On the school roof, hearing Shido's call, Maria nodded and answered as if she knew he would co.
"What are you doing here? Waiting until dark to watch the stars again?"
Maria shook her head.
"No, although that is one of my scheduled plans... today, I have sothing else I want to confirm."
"Sothing else?"
Shido couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion.
"No... it's nothing. More importantly, I'm very happy that Shido ca to find ."
Saying that, Maria hugged Shido's arm with both hands.
Squish~ Maria's chest pressed tightly against Shido's arm.
Ah, although Maria isn't big, it has to be said she is quite soft, like a marshmallow... Wait, that's not the problem!
"Eh, eh!? M-Maria!? What's wrong, suddenly?"
The girl's pretty cheeks flushed slightly at this mont, showing a sweet smile. It ford a sharp contrast with her original doll-like calmness, just like a tender flower bud blooming overnight into the most gorgeous flower under a spring breeze. Under the girl's almost rule breakingly beautiful smile, Shido just felt his brain heat up, becoming a total ss, completely at a loss for what to do.
Then, a bone-chilling murderous intent ca from behind, making Shido instantly shiver.
"Even though they say girls change a lot as they grow, reaching this level in three days seems a bit beyond expectations. Aren't you quite capable, Shido~" Yutsuki chuckled, dangerous light shooting from her eyes. "In my na as the forr Executive Director of the FFF Inquisition, representing all FFF mbers in the world. Shido, I give you a choice—burning at the cross. Do you want to tie you up, or will you go up yourself?"
—It seems her words about wanting to kill him earlier weren't a joke.
"U-Um... Maria-san. For the sake of my personal safety, could you please let go for a bit?"
"Yes." Seeing Yutsuki behind him, Maria gently nodded, looking thoughtful. "Just as expected, the predicted reaction."
"Eh?" Shido looked completely confused.
"Phew..." Hearing this sentence, Yutsuki seed to understand sothing. She took a deep breath, reeled in her FFF resentnt, and said, "Simply put, are you trying to understand the concept of love by imitating dating events from the ga yourself?"
Maria nodded.
"I thought that if I did this, Shido would co looking for . In the ga, this kind of thing makes people's hearts race, right? I really wanted to see Shido's reaction."
"Maria..."
Although being teased was a bit exasperating, confirming that Maria was indeed changing little by little made Shido quite relieved.
"Well, now that we're done here, let's go ho together."
"Mhm... u-um, Shido..."
"Hm? Is there sothing else?"
"No... I want to try one more thing... Can we hold hands?"
Maria asked sowhat shyly.
"O-Oh."
After hearing this, Shido paused for a mont before reaching out to hold Maria's small hand.
"Ho~"
Yutsuki's aningful gaze made Shido's body stiffen.
"U-Um, does Yutsuki want to hold hands too?"
"Forget it... I have no interest in sothing that feels like pity given to a loser."
Yutsuki smiled bitterly and shook her head.
Looking at Maria, whose cheeks were red because of her actions. Even if she said it was an attempt to simulate love, it seed that for her, it also took quite a lot of courage.
I'll let it slide this ti—
Although she was a bit unhappy in her heart because of Shido's goofy, happy look, Yutsuki didn't deny it. But Yutsuki wouldn't go as far as fighting out of jealousy with Maria over this.
Yutsuki reached out her right hand towards Maria and said kindly.
"Then—my new family mber, Maria, can I hold your hand too?"
A trace of surprise flashed across Maria's face. Then, she showed a happy smile and held Yutsuki's hand back.
"Mhm, thank you."
"Looking at it this way, won't Shido and I look like Maria's harem to other people?"
"How is that possible... At most, we'll be seen as a family of three."
"Ugh—Shido, I'm not a child."
Amidst such joking around, Yutsuki and Shido took Maria and headed ho.
"...Hmph!"
Under the moonlight, a girl wearing a black nun's habit looked down at the three from the sky. After a long silence, carrying a bit of displeasure, she disappeared into the night sky.
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