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

Shido nodded as though he understood. "Lingmeng, let's go to a French restaurant."

"Huh! Can we? Isn't it expensive there? (?o?)"

Lingmeng sounded surprised. A French restaurant was the sort of upscale place she had never visited, not even in her previous life. Now that Shido had invited her there on his own, she was rather happy.

"Her affection went up a little. Not bad." Kotori smiled as she looked at the affection meter on the large screen above the commander's seat.

"Yeah, it's fine. Let's get going."

"Ohoho, okay."

With that, Lingmeng and Shido set off for the French restaurant.

"That girl is..." At that moment, a particularly cold voice came from behind a wall.

As soon as Shido and Lingmeng left, the owner of that voice followed them...

"Wow, it really is a French restaurant. The decor is so fancy."

Lingmeng gazed at the lavish furnishings around her.

"Is this your first time somewhere like this, Lingmeng?"

"Yeah. Anyway, thanks for bringing me."

"Mm... you're welcome."

Shido felt he hardly deserved her thanks. Kotori and the others had arranged the venue and paid for everything. He was little more than a tour guide.

"Sorry for the wait. Here are your dishes."

Just then, a European man in a chef's uniform entered with several servers, each carrying a plate.

When they lifted the covers, Lingmeng found caviar, foie gras, roast goose, and other dishes underneath.

"These are your appetizers. Once you've finished, we have a delicious dessert for you."

"If there's nothing else, we'll leave you to it. Please enjoy."

The chef bowed to Shido and Lingmeng, then left with the servers.

"Wow, this is quite a spread."

Muttering to herself, Lingmeng picked up her knife and fork. After saying, "Let's eat," she dug in...

"Well, it wasn't as good as I imagined, but considering how expensive it was, I'll call it delicious."

Several dozen minutes later, Shido and Lingmeng had eaten most of the food on the table.

Overall, Lingmeng thought the food was decent. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. The high price came down to the cost of the ingredients.

Once is enough for a place like this. Better not come back often.

Lingmeng stared at the ceiling as the thought crossed her mind.

"Hey, Shido, didn't that chef say there'd be dessert? Why hasn't it come yet?"

Lingmeng turned to Shido beside her, puzzled.

Shido could only scratch his cheek awkwardly, a bead of sweat forming.

"I don't know. Maybe they're still making it?"

Don't tell me Kotori's cooking up some crazy scheme.

While Shido was still wondering, the door in front of him opened.

Someone walked in.

It wasn't the chef from earlier. This person wore a mask, had a chef's hat pulled low, and wore the same uniform as the chef. Their slight build and covered face made them hard to recognize.

"Um... who are you?" Shido asked, pointing at the newcomer.

"I'm a chef here," the person replied simply.

Their voice was low. Shido couldn't tell whether it was deliberate, but for some reason, it sounded familiar.

Lingmeng asked, "Where's the chef from earlier? And the other servers?"

"Something came up, so they couldn't make it. I'm bringing your dessert instead."

With that, the person placed two plates on the table...

The Other Woman

The person lifted the covers from the plates. Inside were two perfectly ordinary slices of chocolate cake, except each had a pitch-black ball about the size of a marble on top.

"Um... what's this ball?" Shido asked, pointing at the one on his cake.

"A secret ingredient," the person replied coldly.

"I see..." Shido muttered.

The answer told him next to nothing, but it worked. Once someone called it a secret ingredient, pressing the matter would be rude.

"Wow, this cake's pretty good." Lingmeng picked up her fork and ate with relish.

"Lingmeng, doesn't anything seem strange to you?"

"Nope. If it won't kill me, I might as well eat all I can."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Shido picked up his fork and eyed the cake uncertainly. In the end, he decided to try it.

Gulp. After taking a bite and noticing nothing unusual, Shido let down his guard.

The person remained where they were, watching Shido and Lingmeng eat their cakes with no sign of leaving. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Thud!

The next second, Lingmeng suddenly slumped onto the table as though she had fainted.

"Lingmeng, are you all... right...?" Shido tried to get up and check on her, but for some reason, all the strength drained from his body.

"The drug's taking effect?" The person yanked off the chef's uniform and mask, revealing a beautiful girl with short white hair, blue eyes, and an expressionless face.

"Tobiichi... why are you here...?" Shido asked with difficulty, slumped over the table like Lingmeng.

"To catch you cheating. You can't have an affair, Shido," Origami replied calmly, glancing at him.

She had been quietly stalk—protecting her boyfriend, Shido Itsuka, as usual today.

But she hadn't expected Shido to ask a beautiful girl out on a date. As his girlfriend, she felt obliged to follow them and see what was going on.

"What did you do to the people from earlier...?"

"I drugged them unconscious and put them in the back. I borrowed a uniform from the chef while I was at it."

"You just stole it..." Shido's mouth twitched as he looked at the chef's uniform on the floor. He could more or less imagine what the chef had been through.

"What did you make Lingmeng and me eat...?"

"My special **. It could probably keep an elephant down for a whole day. Don't worry, Shido. The dose in your cake will only leave your body weak for a while."

"Don't say something so terrifying with a straight face! That could kill someone!"

Shido spoke with great emotion.

Ignoring Shido's words, Origami took out a hemp rope about five centimeters thick and walked over to Lingmeng.

“Tobiichi, what are you going to do to Lingmeng?”

Seeing that Origami seemed intent on doing something to Lingmeng, Shido wanted to stop her. But no matter how hard he tried, his body refused to obey him.

“Don't worry, Shido. Once I tie up this homewrecker, dump her in the storeroom, and deal with her, I'll take you to the hotel I booked and do what couples do.”

"Stop thinking such dangerous things! And what exactly are you planning to do to me at a hotel?"

Shido no longer had the energy to complain. He really wanted to know what was going on inside Origami's head.

Origami reached out expressionlessly, intending to tie Lingmeng up. But just as she was about to touch her, Lingmeng, who was supposed to be unconscious, grabbed her.

“Ah, miss, what are you trying to do to me?” Lingmeng asked with a half-lidded smile.

“Lingmeng, you were fine after all.” Shido, standing nearby, was startled at first, but then remembered that she was a Spirit. The drug probably had little effect on her, so he fell silent.

Impossible. I put all of it in her cake. How is she still so alert?

Origami frowned. Unlike the weakened dose she had given Shido, the dose she gave Lingmeng was strong enough to knock out an elephant for an entire day. Yet Lingmeng was still full of energy, leaving Origami stunned.

“You're in the way!” Origami recovered and swung a fist at Lingmeng's face without another word, but Lingmeng easily dodged it.

"Going straight for the face? That's cold. Haven't you heard you shouldn't hit people in the face?"

Lingmeng shoved Origami hard and stood up from her chair. Origami steadied herself before she could fall and landed safely on her feet.

“Just stay down, you homewrecker. Shido is my boyfriend.”

Origami's face was stern, her voice utterly flat.

“Homewrecker?” Lingmeng froze for a moment before realizing Origami was talking about her.

Lingmeng pointed at herself. “You mean me?”

"Who else?"

“...” Lingmeng fell silent.

I only had a meal with Shido. How did that make me a homewrecker? If I'd known people would call me that, I'd have stayed home and played games.

“Tobiichi, you've got it wrong... Lingmeng is just my friend,” Shido hurried to explain as the situation seemed to take a turn for the worse.

“Don't bother explaining, Shido. I saw you take that person to the movies. I'm your girlfriend, and you've never even done that with me.”

Origami's voice was icy.

"Uh... well..." Shido looked deeply embarrassed. He hadn't expected Origami to see everything. If he could move, he would have crawled into a hole.

"Believe whatever you want. I'm not blind. Why would I ever fall for a pushover like Shido?"

Lingmeng shrugged, speaking casually.

"Hey, I heard that!" Shido said, looking exasperated.

"Whether you are or not, you're staying here today. I'll eliminate every woman who harbors the slightest improper thought about Shido, one by one."

"Come on, could you stop doing something so outrageous with such a serious face? You're the only one here with improper thoughts about Shido!"

Lingmeng scratched her hair helplessly. "Well, if you want to fight, I'm happy to oblige. Even I get angry when someone suddenly calls me the other woman."

The instant Lingmeng looked up, Origami, who had been some distance away, was already right in front of her, ready to attack again.

Wow, she really is a strange one.

The thought had barely formed when Lingmeng vanished and reappeared behind Origami. Without hesitation, she struck the back of Origami's neck with the edge of her hand.

"That was teleportation... what exactly are you...?" Those were Origami's last words before she collapsed to the floor.

Chapter Thirteen: Little Blue Pill

"Lingmeng, is Tobiichi all right?"

Shido looked worriedly at Origami, who lay motionless on the floor.

"She's fine, she's fine. I held back on purpose. Your girlfriend will just sleep for a while."

Lingmeng waved a hand dismissively.

"Still, I'm surprised. I never thought a meek virgin like you would have a girlfriend, Shido."

"No... you've got it wrong. There's a reason for this." Shido tried to continue, but Lingmeng cut him off.

"Don't bother explaining. Whether it's true or not, I'm not interested in your personal life."

As she spoke, Lingmeng picked up the rope Origami had brought, walked over to her, and crouched down.

"Lingmeng, you're not going to..."