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

Thud, thud, thud. That was the sound of a lie being exposed. The atmosphere froze.

"Ah, so you saw through me? Fine, I admit it. I'm a Spirit."

Lingmeng sighed, scratched her head, and came clean.

"When did you figure out I was a Spirit?" Lingmeng asked, puzzled.

"Not long ago. Just now."

"What gave me away? I thought I'd hidden it pretty well."

"Did you think we'd let an ordinary person who'd seen a Spirit and the AST wander around unchecked? Besides, when you saw them, you weren't scared at all. You handled the situation with ease. That alone was suspicious.

"Yesterday, I asked Shido about you. Once I learned your name was Qian Lingmeng, I used every connection Ratatoskr had to look you up."

"To my surprise, there was no record of you in the resident registry. So I had Reine check the Spirit files on the off chance she'd find something."

"The results came in just now. I never expected the girl who'd been at Shido's side all this time to be a Spirit too—let alone Element Make, the strongest Spirit known so far."

"That's some thorough detective work. If I'd known, I would've acted a little more frightened."

Lingmeng smiled and gave a soft clap. Then something seemed to occur to her, and she exclaimed in shock.

"Wait! You said I'm the strongest Spirit? What's that about? Wasn't my threat level only B+? How did I become the strongest?"

"Oh, you didn't know? That's a surprise." Kotori looked startled, then snapped her fingers. "Reine, show her."

"...Mm, okay." Reine nodded from below and produced a folder from somewhere, handing it to Lingmeng.

"What's this...?" Lingmeng stared at the folder in her hands.

"It's your file. Open it and you'll see."

At Kotori's prompting, Lingmeng obediently opened the folder, took out the papers, and began reading carefully.

Codename: Element Make. First appeared in Japan...

The information at the beginning wasn't much different from what she'd seen before. But when Lingmeng reached the threat level, she was dumbstruck—

Threat level: SS. Having easily defeated Ellen Mira Mathers, the world's strongest Wizard, she is currently considered the strongest Spirit known.

"Hold on. Is that Ellen really such a big deal? I beat her once and jumped from B+ to SS? Is she some kind of premium XP pack?"

Lingmeng's eyes went wide as she blurted out what she was thinking.

Lingmeng wanted no part of the title "strongest Spirit." In anime, characters called the strongest usually ended up dead or reduced to background roles later on.

Take Kars and DIO from JoJo. One gave up thinking, and the other got turned to ash by the sun. What a joke.

Rather than "strongest Spirit," Lingmeng would have preferred "weakest Spirit." People called the weakest in anime might never accomplish much, but at least they stayed alive.

"I don't know the details, but apparently Isaac Ray Peram Westcott, DEM's executive director, changed your threat level."

As she spoke, Kotori took out another Chupa Chups and put it in her mouth.

"Does that Isaac guy have nothing better to do? He's a director, for crying out loud." Lingmeng's mouth twitched as she grumbled.

Forget it. If someone comes after me, I'll deal with them. If even the strongest Wizard couldn't stop me, who could beat me?

"By the way, little girl, are you sure it's okay to tell me about your organization?"

Lingmeng tilted her head as she looked at Kotori.

"If I remember right, you can read people's memories. Since you'd find out sooner or later, I might as well tell you myself."

"Uh... that does make sense." Lingmeng scratched her cheek awkwardly. She had just been thinking of reading Kotori's memories if Kotori refused to talk.

No wonder Shido started acting so strangely after I hadn't seen him for a week. This was all your doing, wasn't it?

"Um... now that you've told me all this, you're not planning to..."

"Exactly. I want you to go on a date with Shido, then kiss him to seal your powers."

Kotori stated her reason outright.

Lingmeng's expression shifted. "Sorry to bother you!"

With that, Lingmeng vanished from the Fraxinus.

"Tch. She escaped with her powers?" Kotori pursed her lips. "Forget it. We'll run into her again eventually. For now, let's focus on Tohka."

Soon after, Shido and Tohka were transported aboard the Fraxinus...

Lingmeng Is... a Spirit?

"Ah, I'm finally free!" Shido leaned against the wall in the school hallway and sighed.

Three days had passed since he sealed Tohka's powers. Today, she had joined his class as a transfer student. But the moment she arrived, she said a string of things people were bound to misunderstand—

"What's wrong, Shido? You look down. Oh, is it because you were lonely without me around?"

"What a cold person. You were so rough when you begged me back then..."

"Are you going to claim it was a misunderstanding? That was my first time..."

Her remarks were short but devastating. In an instant, the whole class was in an uproar.

All day, the boys had stared at Shido with envy and resentment, while the girls had heaped scorn on him with every insult they could think of.

If classes hadn't let out just then, Shido might not even have had a chance to catch his breath.

He had a feeling his already shaky relationships at school would be even worse after today.

"I wonder what Lingmeng's doing. I haven't seen her since I sealed Tohka's powers. When I asked Kotori, all she said was, 'She left on her own.' What happened while I was sealing Tohka's powers?"

Gazing at the blue sky, Shido couldn't help thinking of the girl who came and went without a trace.

Ring, ring, ring... Just as Shido was lost in thought, the phone in his pocket rang.

"Oh, it's Kotori." Shido took out his phone and saw that his sister was calling.

He answered. "Hey, Kotori. What's up?"

"Shido, come to the Fraxinus after school. I have something important to tell you." Kotori's voice came through the phone, and she hung up as soon as she finished speaking.

"Hey, what is it?" Shido called into the dead line a few times, then muttered in confusion, "What's so important she couldn't tell me over the phone? Oh well. I'll find out when I get there."

When school let out, Shido followed Kotori's instructions and hurried straight to the Fraxinus.

"Hey, Shido. You got here fast." Kotori sounded impressed to see him arrive so quickly.

Shido wiped the sweat from his forehead, still breathless from running.

"You said on the phone that you had something important to tell me. What is it?"

"In a hurry, are we?" Kotori unwrapped a Chupa Chups and put it in her mouth. "It's about Qian Lingmeng."

"Lingmeng? Did something happen to her? Didn't you say she'd just gone home?" Shido asked, concern creeping into his voice.

"Well, clean out your ears and listen carefully to what I'm about to say."

Shido swallowed involuntarily.

"The next time you see Qian Lingmeng, I need you to ask her on a date."

Kotori laid out her request bluntly.

"Huh? You want me to ask Lingmeng on a date? Why?"

Shido couldn't make sense of it. He almost wanted to clean out his ears and check whether he'd heard her right.

"Is your brain made of tofu? I've practically spelled it out, and you still don't get it?" Kotori looked at Shido as if he were hopeless.

"How was I supposed to get that...?" Shido grumbled. But the next moment, something clicked.

"Kotori, if you want me to date Lingmeng, does that mean she's..."

"You finally figured it out, you idiot. Yes, Qian Lingmeng is a Spirit. And she's the strongest Spirit known so far."

Kotori pulled the lollipop from her mouth and smiled with narrowed eyes.

"...You're joking, right? No matter how you look at her, Lingmeng's just an ordinary girl. Okay, maybe she's a tiny bit—just a little bit—good at fighting."

Shido looked utterly unconvinced.

"Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me... here. Read her file."

Kotori tossed Shido the same file she had shown Lingmeng.

Shido examined it carefully. As much as he hated to admit it, the Spirit called Element Make looked exactly like Lingmeng.

"So Lingmeng really is a Spirit..." Shido frowned at the file in his hands.

"Well? You believe me now, don't you?"

"...Yeah. Given what's in front of me, I don't have much choice."

Shido gave a rueful smile.

"Wait. If Lingmeng's a Spirit too, that means Tohka isn't the only one?"

As the implication hit him, Shido quickly asked.

"When did I ever say Tohka was the only Spirit? Several others have been identified besides her and Lingmeng."

"...So that means..."

"It means you'll have to find them, date them, and seal their powers one by one." Kotori smiled as if it were nothing.

"No way! If I agree to that, I'll end up as the lead in some never-ending harem!"

Shido sounded worked up, but what Kotori said next stopped him cold.

"What made you think you weren't one already?"

"...I don't even know how to answer that."

"Shido, if you don't date the other Spirits, Lingmeng included, they'll have to live in pain every day, just like Tohka used to."

"But..." Shido fell silent. Whenever he remembered the pain on Tohka's face, his heart ached.

Lingmeng, on the other hand, never seemed desperate. She was especially warm with other people. Still, Shido had always felt she was hiding a secret, and he couldn't help being curious about her.

"The choice is yours, Shido. Are you going to walk away, or keep helping the remaining Spirits escape their suffering?"

Shido hesitated at Kotori's question. Then he scratched his head and smiled bitterly.

"Do I really have a choice besides the second one?"

Kotori gave him a satisfied smile and a thumbs-up.

"That's more like it. Now you're acting like my big brother!"

"Um... Kotori, there's something else I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"Why did Lingmeng suddenly leave? From what you've said, it wasn't just because she wanted to go home, was it?"

"Oh, that." Kotori thought for a moment. "I only told her to go on a date with you. I didn't expect her to run off without another word. She's pretty petty."

"Come on, anyone would leave if you sprang that on them!"

Shido's mouth twitched in exasperation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kotori looked displeased, then added:

"Anyway, if you see her again, don't just let her go. According to Fraxinus's investigation, Lingmeng should still be somewhere in this city."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Shido waved a hand dismissively...

Big Sister Lingmeng?

"If that's everything, let me go back down. Ingredients are on sale at the department store today. If I don't get there soon, everyone else might buy them all."

Shido checked the time on his phone and calculated to himself.

I should still make it if I go now, right?