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

"Wait, isn't this a freaking love hotel? What kind of weirdo gives this away as a raffle prize?"

Lingmeng stared at the words on the sign and couldn't help complaining.

"Uh... Tohka, let's go back! I'm such a scatterbrain that I accidentally took us the wrong way."

"Huh? This isn't the place? But we've come all this way. I still want to see what's inside."

"No! You two absolutely cannot go in! This isn't something kids your age should be getting into. Wait until you're adults before you even think about entering."

Lingmeng planted herself in front of the hotel entrance and did her best to stop them.

"Exactly! Tohka, we're still minors. We can't go in!"

Shido nodded hurriedly, speaking with absolute conviction.

"Lingmeng, why are you so worked up? Is the secret to dating in there?"

"Uh... In a sense, you're not wrong, but you still can't go in!"

Lingmeng looked awkward at Tohka's question, but she still refused to let her inside.

"All right..." Tohka said, deflated.

Shido and Lingmeng felt bad for the visibly disappointed Tohka, but they were certain they had made the right call. After glaring up at Kotori, who might be spying on him from above, Shido retraced their steps with Tohka and Lingmeng.

"Honestly, they made it all the way there and turned right around? My brother really is a coward!"

Aboard the airship, Kotori watched Shido on the big screen, shrugged, and sighed.

"...He couldn't help it. Asking Shido to do that out of nowhere was a bit much."

Reine spoke from the control console below.

From what they had observed, Tohka's emotions had stabilized. Her feelings for Shido had not reached the level of romance, but she certainly trusted him as a friend. That was why Kotori had decided to have him take a chance.

"Even if they don't make any progress, it's fine as long as they reach the final stage. One kiss is all it takes to seal the deal."

Kotori rolled the lollipop around in her mouth and exhaled through her nose.

"...So what do we do next?"

"Hmm. Next up are 'Connection' and 'Lost All the Way.'"

"Hah... hah..." Shido had no idea why he felt so out of breath when he hadn't even been running.

"Shido, why do you look so wiped out? Don't tell me your kidneys are giving out?"

Lingmeng took one look at his near-collapse and teased him.

"No way! My kidneys are perfectly fine!"

Shido protested, exasperated.

"Shido, are you feeling sick?" Tohka asked, looking at him with concern.

"No... I just thought about my little sister up in the sky, and got a bit emotional."

"Up in the sky?"

"Yeah. She used to be my adorable little sister." Shido looked up at the sky as he spoke.

Lingmeng merely patted him on the shoulder and offered her condolences.

"I'm sorry for your loss. The dead can't come back, so you have to keep moving forward."

"She's right, Shido. You have to stay strong."

Tohka looked sad as she tried to comfort him too.

"Uh... Did you two misunderstand something?"

Shido broke into a sweat. Only then did he realize he had made it sound as though Kotori was dead...

The Rooftop ### "Um... That's not what I meant..."

Shido was about to explain when a voice interrupted him.

"Here you go~"

A woman suddenly walked over and handed Shido a packet of tissues.

Shido accepted it in confusion. The woman gave him a slight nod and left.

"What's that, Shido?" Tohka asked curiously.

"I think it's a pocket pack of tissues?"

"Hmm..." Shido answered, still thoroughly puzzled. Packs like these were usually handed out as advertisements, but this one bore only an illustration of a man and woman holding hands and the slogan, "If you feel happy, hold hands."

While Shido was still trying to make sense of it, a familiar voice reached his ears. The televisions lined up in a nearby storefront had begun airing a strange program.

"Huh?" all three said.

Shido, Lingmeng, and Tohka turned toward the televisions.

"What?!" Shido was the first to cry out. The set looked like a daytime talk show, with several people who appeared to be commentators. He had seen every one of them aboard Fraxinus.

So Kotori and the others are behind this after all?

As Shido complained inwardly, the people on the screens began to speak.

"It's such a turnoff when someone won't hold hands on a first date!"

"Exactly! A man should be bold and decisive!"

"..."

Shido fell silent as the number of couples around them began to grow at an unnatural rate.

Every couple walked hand in hand, occasionally making a point of saying things like, "Holding hands feels so nice," and "It feels like our hearts are connected."

"Ah, the air reeks of romance!"

Faced with all those lovey-dovey couples, Lingmeng couldn't help letting out the lament of someone hopelessly single.

They want me to hold hands with Tohka?

"Ugh." Shido clutched his aching head, then spoke.

"To... Tohka."

"What is it?"

Shido extended his trembling right hand and swallowed.

"Um... Do you want to... hold hands?"

"Hold hands? Why?"

Tohka tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

"I think Shido just wants to. Isn't that right, Shi~do~?"

Lingmeng teased him from the side. She figured he simply wanted to hold a girl's hand but didn't know how to say it, so she decided to give him a push.

"Y-yeah! Tohka... would that be okay...?"

Shido's face flushed, and his voice grew quieter with every word.

"Oh, I see." Tohka murmured, then took Shido's right hand in her left and smiled.

"If you want to, Shido, then let's hold hands!"

"...!" Tohka's sudden initiative startled Shido.

"What's with that look? You're the one who asked."

Tohka puffed out her cheeks slightly and gave him an annoyed look.

"...Y-yeah." Shido smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, youth is a wonderful thing!" Lingmeng folded her arms and watched Shido and Tohka through half-lidded eyes, sounding like an old man.

"Come on, Lingmeng, join us! This is a date for all three of us!"

"Huh?"

Before Lingmeng could react, Tohka pulled out her left hand and clasped it with her own right.

Wow, Tohka's hand is so soft and warm! Who would've thought I, Qian Lingmeng, would ever get to hold hands with a girl? My life is complete.

Lingmeng savored the soft warmth of Tohka's hand, pitifully content.

She had nothing to lose, so she let Tohka do as she pleased. The three of them walked down the street hand in hand.

Lingmeng was on the left, Shido on the right, and Tohka in the middle. Strange as it sounded, Lingmeng felt almost as if she and Shido were parents taking their daughter out.

"This feels really nice!"

Tohka smiled and tightened her grip a little.

"Y-yeah (///ˊ?ˋ///)"

"Holding hands with Tohka really does feel nice!"

Shido sounded shy, while Lingmeng said it without the slightest attempt to hide how she felt.

After walking for who knew how long, they found a sign ahead that read "Under Construction."

"Huh?" Shido looked baffled.

"Construction? Looks like we'll have to turn back."

"I guess so..." Shido sensed something suspicious, but with no other choice, he started back the way they had come. Absurdly, the road they had just walked down was now blocked by signs too.

"..." Sure enough, Shido recognized some of the workers ahead. They were crew members from Fraxinus.

"What's going on? Is all of Tengu City under renovation today, Shido?"

Lingmeng looked ahead in confusion, then turned to Shido.

"Maybe? Things have been pretty unsettled lately. Repairs wouldn't be surprising, right?"

Shido knew the real reason, but he couldn't say it now, so he answered with a strained smile.

Then he fell silent and looked at the road branching off to the left, leading up to higher ground.

"...You want us to take that road?"

"Hm? What's wrong, Shido?"

"Nothing... Anyway, let's go have a look over there!"

"Sure!"

"Fine by me!"

Tohka looked happy even though they were only going for a walk. Lingmeng looked as though she didn't care where they went.

"Okay, let's go, Shido!"

"Yeah, okay..."

Shido set foot on the road to the left, moving stiffly.

It was six in the evening.

The high-rises in front of Tengu Station were bathed in orange-red light.

A boy and two girls stood in a small park atop the hill, where they could take in the entire beautiful view.

The boy was nothing out of the ordinary, just an ordinary high school student.

But the two girls were beings humanity called disasters: Spirits. One of them, Lingmeng, had not revealed that she was a Spirit and was simply posing as an ordinary girl.

"Whew..." In the distance, Ryoko Kusakabe narrowed her eyes behind her binoculars and bit her lip.

"A ninety-eight-point-five percent match. There's no way to explain that as coincidence!"

The girl before Ryoko, who should have been a world-destroying disaster, a walking calamity, looked like an adorable girl instead. Ryoko could hardly believe it.