The Spirit I Became in Date A Live Refuses to Date

"So it's true... Another Spirit really has appeared besides me!"

Lingmeng marveled at the thought, then flew to the top of a high-rise to see what the other Spirit looked like.

Strictly speaking, this was the first of her own kind Lingmeng had encountered. She still wasn't sure whether that mosaic-covered thing was a Spirit, so she hadn't counted it.

Lingmeng cupped her hands around her eyes like binoculars. With her superhuman Spirit eyesight, she could clearly make out what was happening in the distance.

"Oh, I see her!" Lingmeng exclaimed, excited to have found the Spirit.

She was a girl who looked about Lingmeng's age, with long purple hair and a sweet, innocent face. Her crystal-clear eyes sparkled with an almost magical light.

Her clothes were unusual too: a Princess-style gown made from something that might have been fabric or Metal.

Its seams, lining, and skirt were formed from an extraordinary, immaterial film of light.

But none of that was what mattered most. Lingmeng noticed that the Spirit held a huge sword nearly as tall as she was and seemed to be pointing it at someone.

Lingmeng had been curious to see who was unlucky enough to run into a Spirit. But when she looked at the person on the other end of that sword, her expression fell.

The poor guy was none other than Shido Itsuka, the boy Lingmeng had met over a month ago!

"Holy shit! Isn't that Shido? What's he doing there? Is he an idiot? There's been a Spacequake, and instead of hiding in a Shelter, he's running around outside! Isn't he afraid it'll kill him?"

Lingmeng took a breath and muttered, "No, I have to save him. If I don't, the Spirit will cut him down, or he'll get caught in the crossfire when AST fights her.

"AST probably won't attack the Spirit right away. I can still make it."

With that, Lingmeng used her spatial ability to teleport over...

"What on earth is going on?"

Shido stared at the girl pointing a huge sword at him, his emotions in turmoil.

He had planned to eat a "deluxe kids' meal" at a family restaurant with his sister Kotori after the school entrance ceremony. Then, out of nowhere, a Spacequake had struck.

Shido had assumed his sister had made it to a Shelter, but when he checked his phone, he saw that she was still near the family restaurant. Without a second thought, he had run out of the Shelter. That was when he met this girl.

"Who are you...?" Shido asked, dumbfounded.

"...My name? I don't have one..."

The girl's voice was as lovely as a songbird's, but it carried a note of sadness.

After their eyes met for the first time, she tightened her grip on her sword.

"...Wait! What are you doing?" Shido asked in fear.

"What am I doing? Killing you as quickly as I can!"

She swung her huge sword at Shido...

"Wait, miss! Don't kill him!"

A voice rang out, interrupting her attack. Sitting on the ground, Shido found it incredibly familiar.

That voice... Could it be?

"Who are you? Come out!" the girl called, looking around.

"Okay, okay." Lingmeng stepped out from behind a damaged building with a helpless look.

"Ah, glad I made it. If I'd been any later, Shido, you might've ended up like Makoto." Seeing that he was all right, Lingmeng cracked a joke.

"Hey, Shido! Long time no see!"

Lingmeng waved at him with an easy smile.

"Ling... Lingmeng? Why are you back?" Shido stared in surprise at the girl he had met a month earlier.

"Oh, I had a few reasons to come back and take a look around."

Lingmeng shrugged, brushing off his question.

"...Hey... Don't ignore me just because you showed up out of nowhere!"

The purple-haired girl angrily raised her huge sword and sent a slash of light at Lingmeng...

Chapter 21: I Only Came Out to Look for My Sister!

Whoosh! A purple blade of light hurtled toward Lingmeng at tremendous speed.

Normally, Lingmeng could have dodged it with ease. But with Shido beside her, she decided to keep a low profile rather than reveal that she wasn't human.

"Aaah..." Pretending to be terrified, Lingmeng flailed her arms and fell backward, neatly avoiding the slash. To anyone watching, though, it looked like sheer dumb luck.

In an instant, the already shattered building behind Lingmeng was sliced flat across the top.

"Ling... Lingmeng, are you okay?" Shido asked anxiously. As far as he could tell, she had nearly died.

"I-I'm fine. I'm tougher than I look." Lingmeng stammered, beads of cold sweat on her forehead. She looked as if she really had just escaped death.

"Hmph! You dodged that?" The purple-haired girl looked annoyed to see Lingmeng unharmed.

"W-why are you attacking us?"

Shido could no longer hold back his question.

"Do you even have to ask?" The girl's expression turned deeply sorrowful. "Because... you two are here to kill me too, aren't you?"

"...What?" Shido's mouth fell open. That was the last answer he had expected.

What does she mean, "here to kill me too"?

Shido couldn't understand it, but Lingmeng had a rough idea.

Does she think we're AST? No wonder she attacked us.

As a Spirit herself, Lingmeng had more or less grasped the situation. Shido, on the other hand, was still completely lost.

"You've got to be joking! How could we do something like that?"

"Exactly! I couldn't even kill a chicken, let alone a beautiful girl like you."

Shido and Lingmeng tried to explain. The purple-haired girl's expression shifted as she looked between them, her eyes filled with surprise, suspicion, and confusion.

"What?" The girl seemed about to say more, but then she frowned and looked up at the sky.

Is AST here? Lingmeng looked up, and Shido followed her gaze.

Sure enough, the AST members Lingmeng had spotted earlier had arrived.

Lingmeng was used to this sight. For Shido, it was a shock.

Several girls in strange outfits were soaring through the sky. Their weapons fired a volley of missiles straight toward them.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

Shido couldn't help screaming.

Lingmeng couldn't stand it. She smacked the back of his head.

"What the hell are you screaming for? Open your eyes and look!"

"...Huh?" When Shido opened his eyes, he found that every missile fired from above had stopped over the girl, as though caught by an invisible hand.

"Lingmeng, what's going on?" Shido asked, stunned.

"How should I know? We almost got blown up, and that's what you're worried about?"

Despite what she said, Lingmeng answered his question in her head.

She's using her Spirit Power to form a shield around herself.

"These things are useless! Why won't you learn?"

The girl raised her empty hand and clenched it into a fist. The missiles crumpled like clay, then exploded.

AST still didn't give up. More missiles came, one volley after another.

Lingmeng had expected as much. If these people were willing to talk, why would she spend every day hiding out in the mountains? She'd have been having tea with AST by now.

"Hmph." The girl sighed softly. For a moment, she looked close to tears, but her expression soon hardened into the same one she had worn when pointing her sword at Shido and Lingmeng.

"...Disappear. Disappear. All of you, just disappear!"

She swung her sword, sending countless slashes of light toward AST.

AST barely dodged her attack and kept firing, as though Shido and Lingmeng weren't even there.

"Lingmeng, why are they attacking that girl...?"

Shido had barely asked when he caught sight of Lingmeng's kindly smile and immediately shut his mouth.

Her expression practically said, Ask one more question and I'll throw you out there!

Honestly, if Lingmeng hadn't disguised herself as an ordinary girl with her powers today—and if she had caused a Spacequake—she probably would have been dragged into the fight too. AST would have been devastated. Fight two Spirits? They might as well order their coffins now.

Shido, meanwhile, was utterly baffled. What was happening? He had only come out to find his sister. How had he ended up in the middle of this?

That was what he wanted to ask more than anything.

Then Shido spotted something even more shocking: one of the armored girls was someone he knew. It was his classmate, Origami Tobiichi!

"...Tobiichi?" Shido murmured her name without thinking.

Origami Tobiichi seemed to notice Shido and Lingmeng too, though she ignored Lingmeng entirely. "Shido Itsuka?"

After saying his name, Origami Tobiichi turned back to the fight.

"Shido, you know her?" Lingmeng asked at once.

"I guess you could say that. She's my classmate. But I have no idea why she's doing this..."

Shido lowered his head.

What is going on today? Can somebody explain it to me?

That was all Shido wanted to know.

"Your classmate? That's a surprise." Lingmeng chuckled.

"Hmph! You really are annoying."

"I won't fall until I've defeated you."

The purple-haired girl spoke in exasperation; Origami Tobiichi answered coldly.

Almost everyone in AST was down. Origami Tobiichi was the only one still able to fight.

It might have been unfair to say so, but Lingmeng could already guess the outcome: the purple-haired girl was certain to win.

Origami Tobiichi was stronger than the average AST member, but facing a Spirit alone was still a tall order. Not everyone was a monster like Ellen.

The purple-haired girl and Origami Tobiichi faced off, both poised to strike at the slightest movement.

Just then, Shido's phone rang. That was all it took to set them off.

"Hah!"

They charged at each other. When their weapons collided, a powerful gust swept outward.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Shido screamed in fear.

Lingmeng scooped Shido up in her arms and leaped backward, sparing him from the shock wave.

"Hey, Shido, wake up. It's over."

Lingmeng patted Shido's cheek, but he showed no sign of waking.

Did the shock knock him out? Whatever. The Spirit and AST are gone now, so he should be fine if I leave him here, right?

The Spirit had returned to the Neighboring World a little earlier, and the girl named Origami Tobiichi had been taken away after getting injured.

Lingmeng propped Shido against a pillar, dusted off her hands, and walked away...

Chapter 22: You Again?!

"Ah, if I'm going to stay here for a while, I should sort out some money first, right?"