I Became a Spirit in Date A Live, but I Refuse to Date

Lingmeng stepped between Shido and Tohka, hoping to make peace.

"Then hurry up and tell me, Shido. What were you saying just now?"

Tohka still looked wary, as though she might explode at any moment.

"Shido, what did you say? Tell her now. If you keep quiet, even I won't be able to protect you."

Lingmeng watched Shido stand there in silence and tried to talk some sense into him.

"Uh..." Sweat beaded on Shido's cheeks as he muttered under his breath. Then his little sister's mocking voice came through his right earpiece.

"Just accept your fate, Shido. Date! Date!"

With Kotori leading the chant, the crew aboard the airship joined in. Their cries of "date" rumbled through his earpiece like distant thunder.

"Date!"

"Date!"

"Date!"

"Ah, fine! I get it!" Shido scratched his head and spoke as though he had resigned himself to his fate.

"Whatever you want to say, Shido, just say it!" Lingmeng encouraged him with a smile.

"Then... here goes!" Shido met Tohka's eyes and finally forced the words out. "Tohka... if we get the chance... next time... would you go on a date with me?"

Shido's face burned red. He had practically shouted the last sentence.

For a moment, everything fell silent.

After hearing what Shido had said, Lingmeng looked as if her stomach hurt.

Oh my God, bro, are you serious? I've never seen anyone this brave. You actually dared to ask a Spirit on a date? That's completely ridiculous. You're a legend!

"Shido, you were joking just now, right? I mean, asking Tohka on a date is a bit... much."

Unable to believe her ears, Lingmeng asked for confirmation. Shido's expression, however, told her he meant it.

"I... I'm serious!"

Oh my God, what's happening to this world? Even a herbivore virgin like Shido dares to ask a girl on a date now? And the craziest part is that the girl's a Spirit!

Lingmeng could only stare in disbelief. She was growing more and more curious about what Shido had been through over the past week.

"Shido, Lingmeng, what's a date?" Tohka asked, dumbfounded.

"Uh... well..." Lingmeng smiled awkwardly. Asked to explain what a "date" was on the spot, she couldn't think of an answer.

Shido was no better off. He looked equally stumped.

"Well... it's hard to explain right now. I think you'll understand once you come."

Shido scratched his cheek in embarrassment and looked away.

"Oh, okay! Will Lingmeng come too?" Tohka nodded, then suddenly turned the question to Lingmeng.

"Uh... about that..." Shido glanced at Lingmeng, and a drop of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

Huh? Why would I come along on your date with Shido? Do you want me to be a third wheel, or are you suggesting a date with both of us?

Lingmeng hesitated for a moment before answering. "Well... I won't go. Shido's the one who invited you. It wouldn't be right for me to tag along, would it?"

As soon as Lingmeng said that, Tohka's head drooped. "So you're not coming, Lingmeng?"

Meanwhile, aboard the Fraxinus, the alarm sounded again. The affection meter on the main screen began to fall steadily.

"Commander, Tohka's mood is dropping fast! What should we do?"

The crew's anxious voices rose from below.

"Ugh, what a pain. Looks like that girl will have to join them." Kotori sighed helplessly and spoke to Shido. "Shido, hurry up and convince Lingmeng to go on the date with you two. Tohka's feeling especially low right now. If this keeps up, we might not be able to seal her."

"You're asking the impossible! Lingmeng just said no. What am I supposed to say?"

Shido spoke quietly, his voice close to breaking.

"That's your problem. How you convince her is up to you."

Kotori said it with no sense of responsibility whatsoever, leaving Shido at a loss.

"Um... Lingmeng, I know this might sound unreasonable, but please say yes."

Shido tried not to look at Lingmeng. Cold sweat gathered on his forehead as he carefully began to speak.

"Say yes to what? You're not about to ask me to go on the date with you, are you?"

Lingmeng folded her arms and gave him a puzzled look.

"Yeah... that's it." Shido nodded. Asking someone else to join his date was mortifying.

"Can I refuse?" Lingmeng answered without hesitation.

"All right... If you don't want to, I can't make you..."

"Shido, you ape! How can you give up that easily?"

His sister's scolding rang in Shido's ear, but he could only fall silent. He really couldn't bring himself to beg Lingmeng to do something like this.

"Lingmeng, are you really not coming?" Tohka looked up at her with tears in her eyes, wearing the expression of a puppy about to be abandoned.

Lingmeng had meant to refuse as firmly as before, but the moment she saw Tohka's pitiful face, she had no idea how to say it.

Ah! She's too adorable! Lingmeng thought.

After a while, Lingmeng sighed and gave in.

"All right. I guess I can come along..."

"Yay! That's wonderful!" Tohka beamed. At that instant, the affection meter on the main screen shot up to an impressive level.

"Mm-hmm. Tohka's doing pretty well now. But Shido, you couldn't even manage an invitation without Tohka stepping in? You're hopeless."

Kotori nodded in satisfaction as she watched Tohka on the main screen.

"Fine, I'm hopeless. Happy now?" Shido looked thoroughly exasperated by Kotori's mockery.

Ah, why did I agree? I really can't say no when a pretty girl asks me for something!

Lingmeng regretted agreeing, but she was also a little excited.

After all, going on a date with a pretty girl was the dream of countless shut-in guys! Of course, it would be even better if Shido weren't there.

That was what Lingmeng truly felt, though she kept it to herself.

"Shido! AST is making its move!"

"What?" Forgetting that Tohka and Lingmeng could hear him, Shido cried out.

In an instant, Shido's classmate Origami Tobiichi appeared outside the classroom, which had somehow become an open space.

Tohka's expression sharpened at once, and she held out her palm.

Moments later, Origami turned the bulky device in her hand into a light sword and charged at Tohka...

Everything Felt So Far Beyond Reality ### Sparks scattered everywhere like a welding torch. Tohka swept aside the light sword and Origami along with it, then shouted.

"You have no sense of timing!"

Origami gritted her teeth slightly. As she flew backward, she immediately adjusted her posture and landed perfectly on the floor.

"Why is she the only AST member who came in? Did she act on her own?"

Lingmeng glanced around. Aside from the girl named Origami, the other AST members were still outside on standby. There was only one explanation: Origami had disobeyed orders and come here alone.

She's willing to disobey orders just to fight a Spirit? How much does she hate them?

Lingmeng watched Origami take up a fighting stance and marveled.

"Tch—you again?" Tohka flicked the hand that had touched the light sword and looked at Origami with disgust.

Origami ignored her and glanced toward Lingmeng and Shido. No—more precisely, she only looked at Shido.

Seeing that Shido was safe, she let out a relieved breath. Then she tightened her grip on her weapon and stared coldly at Tohka.

Origami had originally been on standby outside with the other AST members. To check whether the Spirit had appeared, she had opened her Territory and looked over here.

To her surprise, the Spirit was indeed here. But beside her was Shido Itsuka, the boyfriend with whom Origami had just confirmed a relationship—or so she believed.

Assuming Shido had been unable to escape in time, Origami ignored her captain Ryoko Kusakabe's orders without a word. She discarded the Gatling gun she had been holding, drew No Pain, the anti-Spirit light sword for close combat at her waist, and flew straight here at high speed.

At the sight, Tohka instinctively glanced at Shido and Lingmeng. Then, refusing to be outdone, she stamped her heel against the floor.

"Sandalphon!"

The classroom floor suddenly rose, forming something like a throne. Tohka pulled the sword from the back of the chair and swung it at Origami.

She's even summoned her Angel? Looks like this classroom isn't going to be safe much longer.

Watching Sandalphon from behind, Lingmeng could already tell what was about to happen.

"Shido, run! Get back to the Fraxinus for now! Stay as far away from those two as you can!"

As Shido stood frozen in place, Kotori's shout rang in his ear.

"Shido, we can't stay here! Let's get out!"

Lingmeng spoke up right after Kotori.

"Not you too, Lingmeng!" Shido said, breaking into a sweat.

"What are you talking about? Hurry!" Lingmeng turned and ran out of the classroom. "Use your legs and run!"

"Wait, Lingmeng! Where are you going?"

Just as Shido tried to follow Lingmeng, Tohka's Angel collided with Origami's light sword. The powerful shock wave blew Shido straight out of the classroom door.

"Waaah!" Shido screamed.

"Nice!" As Kotori's voice sounded, Shido felt weightlessness envelop him. Amid that strange sensation of floating, he returned to the Fraxinus.

... ### "Hey. Welcome back, Shido."

Kotori sat in the captain's chair with her legs crossed and a lollipop in her mouth, looking down at Shido as he lay sprawled on the floor.

"Ow, ow, ow." Shido held his head and painfully got to his feet. Then, apparently remembering something, he asked at once.

"Kotori, what happened to Tohka and the others?"

"Tohka? She just went back to the Neighboring World. The AST girl got hurt, so someone carried her away."

Kotori licked her lollipop and answered calmly.

"What about Lingmeng? She's okay, right?!"

"Relax. That girl was nowhere to be found at the scene, so she probably escaped. Though you could barely take care of yourself, and you're still worried about someone else?"

Kotori gave Shido a teasing look. Shido only muttered, "I'm glad they're all okay," and fell silent.

"Well, today's mission went reasonably well. At least you got on good terms with the Spirit. Go home and take a shower. Look at you—you might as well have crawled out of a pigsty."

Kotori waved a hand at Shido's dust-covered clothes, signaling that he could leave.

"All right..." Shido agreed. Now that Kotori had mentioned it, he felt rather dirty himself.

With that, Shido was transported to his front door.

"Shido's probably home by now, right?"

Lingmeng, meanwhile, sat atop a tall building. As she watched the sky darken toward night, she began wondering where she would sleep...

... ### And so morning came. Shido stood dumbfounded outside his school, now reduced to ruins, and sighed at his own stupidity.

"Am I an idiot? I saw AST and Tohka destroy the school with my own eyes, and I still put on my uniform and came here."

Shido scratched his head helplessly, berating himself.

Shido had indeed witnessed everything yesterday. But it had all seemed so far beyond reality that he couldn't help feeling as though it had been a dream. His judgment had suffered, and he had come to school as usual.