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

"Kotori... what's Lingmeng's affection level for me now? Is it high enough to seal her?"

Not long after Lingmeng left, Shido asked Kotori.

"It's not looking good. According to the Fraxinus computer, Lingmeng's affection level for you has been seventy since the start of the date. That's just ordinary-friend territory.

"It's gone up and down during the date, but it always returns to seventy in the end. Strange, isn't it? Does she have some secret way to control her own feelings?"

Kotori sat in the commander's chair with a Chupa Chups in her mouth, one leg crossed over the other.

Lingmeng's affection level baffled her. After a date this long, it should have changed at least a little. Yet it had stayed stuck at seventy the whole time. What the hell?

"Is that so... What's going on? Did I do something to upset Lingmeng?" Shido muttered with a frown.

Just then, a tremendous crash interrupted his thoughts.

"What was that!?" Shido hurriedly looked toward the sound. To his surprise, Lingmeng was the one responsible.

So what had happened? Let's turn back the clock a few minutes.

"Ah, I let what I was thinking slip out without meaning to. Good thing Shido didn't hear me clearly. If he had, he'd probably keep digging until he got an answer."

Lingmeng stood in front of a vending machine, muttering to herself. Then she shrugged and said casually,

"Eh, enough thinking. I'll buy a drink. I'm thirsty. ╮(￣▽￣)╭"

She stared at the coin slot. After some hesitation, Lingmeng decided to put in the last of her money—five hundred yen—and buy two cans of cola.

She inserted the coin, pressed a few buttons, and reached into the vending machine's collection compartment.

"Huh—" Lingmeng stared in surprise. Nothing had come out. The damn vending machine had swallowed her money!

"Caw, caw, caw." A few crows flew overhead. Only after they had finished calling did Lingmeng grasp how serious this was.

"What the hell! Come on, vending machine, don't be so heartless! That was all the money I had! How could you just pocket it!? (?д?; )"

Lingmeng pounded on the vending machine, her voice close to tears.

"Please give me my money back, vending machine. Or at least drop me a bottle of water!"

She kept pounding on it as she pleaded.

The vending machine showed her no mercy. Instead, a red light flashed and an alarm sounded. That pushed Lingmeng over the edge.

"You..." Lingmeng clenched her fist, a vein bulging on her forehead. "You piece of junk! Go turn yourself into scrap metal!"

Bang!

Electricity crackled around Lingmeng's right foot. She leaped up and slammed a powerful kick into the vending machine's left side.

A tremendous crash rang out. Black smoke poured from the vending machine, and its display flickered. The alarm that had sounded so mocking to Lingmeng grew weaker and weaker until it fell completely silent...

Lingmeng's Past

"Oh my. Did I go a little too far?"

Coming to her senses, Lingmeng stared at the wrecked vending machine with a blank expression.

Just then, for some reason, drinks began tumbling out of its collection compartment one after another.

"Clack—clack—clack..." Several minutes later, every drink in the vending machine had fallen out.

"Wow, that's a lot of drinks. A few bottles should be worth five hundred yen, right?"

As she looked at the drinks scattered across the ground, Lingmeng had a fleeting urge to take them all and sell them.

Before she knew it, she had bent down and reached for a few bottles.

It wasn't long before Lingmeng had gathered every last drink from the ground.

Good thing nobody's around. It'd be so embarrassing if someone saw me kick a vending machine and then help myself to its drinks.

Carrying the drinks, Lingmeng headed back toward Shido, still thinking about it.

Thump! When she reached the Bench, Lingmeng dumped the pile of drinks onto it with a loud noise.

"Lingmeng... where did all these drinks come from?"

Sweating awkwardly, Shido pointed at the drinks beside him.

"Uh... these?" Lingmeng paused before answering. "Would you believe me if I said the vending machine felt sorry for me and gave them to me?"

Even Lingmeng didn't believe that herself.

"I wouldn't," Shido said, scratching his cheek.

"Okay, okay. I lost my temper and kicked the vending machine until it broke. These drinks came spilling out."

Lingmeng shrugged helplessly and told him the truth.

"Shido, could you ask Kotori to take care of the broken vending machine for me? I don't feel right leaving it there."

"All right... I'll ask." The corner of Shido's mouth twitched. Then he quietly asked, "Kotori, can you?"

"Fine, fine. I've got it." Kotori waved a hand and agreed.

A few minutes later, someone who appeared to work for Ratatoskr arrived with a crew. They hauled away the broken vending machine and replaced it with a new one.

"Well, thanks, Kotori." Lingmeng gave the camera a thumbs-up and smiled.

"She's awfully familiar with me..." Kotori looked displeased in the commander's chair. Then she picked up the Microphone.

"Shido, Lingmeng's affection level for you still hasn't changed. Ask her why while you have the chance. If we do nothing, it might stay at seventy forever."

"Right... I understand..." Shido nodded gently, then asked Lingmeng, "Have I done something to upset you?"

"Hm? Why would you say that?"

Lingmeng rested her chin on her hand and gave him a puzzled look.

"Kotori just told me that your affection level for me has stayed at seventy. It hasn't changed once. So I wondered if I'd done something to upset you."

"Upset me? No. The only thing bothering me is that my first date was with a guy."

Lingmeng waved a hand with a relaxed smile.

"If it isn't something I did, then it must be whatever's weighing on your mind, right?"

Lingmeng's expression shifted at Shido's question. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"More or less."

"What is it? I've been wondering about it this whole time."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, I do!"

Shido answered with determination. After all, this was the only lead he had for winning Lingmeng over.

"Well, if you want to know that badly, I'll tell you. Better to get it out now than have you keep pestering me."

Lingmeng sounded resigned. Unlike the last time, when she had teleported Shido away, she had decided to tell him everything.

"So what is it?"

"Shh. Someone's listening. I'll tell you once they give us some privacy."

Lingmeng smiled and raised a finger to her lips.

"Huh?" While Shido was still trying to make sense of that, Kotori's voice came through his Earphones.

"She probably means us. Looks like she only wants to tell you, Shido." Kotori sighed in the commander's chair. "We'll switch off all the listening equipment. Just listen to what she has to say."

"Got it."

After he said that, his Earphones went silent. The communication equipment must have been turned off.

"Lingmeng, Kotori and the others have turned off the equipment. Can you tell me now?"

"Of course." Lingmeng smiled brightly, then lifted her gaze to the sky. "Hey, Shido."

"What is it?" Shido asked, puzzled.

"Let me ask you something. Do you know what day April first is?"

Shido scratched his cheek and replied awkwardly, "If I remember right, it's April Fools' Day?"

"Yep. That's right."

"So what about it?"

"April first is my birthday..."

"..." Shido froze, then gave an awkward smile. "Is that so... What a surprise..."

"I don't think so. Just like my birthday, I think my birth was a joke."

"Why would you think that...?"

"Well, it all started with a bat," Lingmeng said with a sigh. Shido looked utterly lost.

"Huh?"

"Haha, I'm kidding." Lingmeng held her stomach as she laughed, but soon grew serious again.

Looking at the sky as evening drew near, Lingmeng began speaking with a complicated expression.

"Twenty-four years ago, on April first, a baby boy was born in a hospital in China. A new baby should have made the whole family happy, but his birth was different.

"His mother died in childbirth. His father fell into depression after losing his wife and died too, a few years after raising the boy alone.

"With both parents gone, the five-year-old boy went to live with his grandparents in the countryside. After he arrived, his grandfather developed cancer. Treatment failed, and he died.

"That same year, his grandmother was on her way to pick him up from school when a car ran a red light and killed her.

"And so, at just five years old, the boy became an orphan. The government arranged for him to live in an Orphanage.

"At first, he settled in well. He was cheerful by nature and made many close friends there.

"But a little over a year after he arrived, a fire suddenly broke out. Everyone in the Orphanage died except him.

"One by one, everyone close to him had died. It left a deep scar on his young mind. He even started wondering if he was cursed to bring misfortune to anyone near him.

"The once-cheerful boy stopped talking much to others. Deep down, he still wanted a good friend to talk to, but he kept that wish to himself.

"After that, he refused to enter another Orphanage or join any family that wanted to adopt him. He lived in a small apartment provided by the government and got by on living expenses from the state.

"Fortunately, the boy was fairly smart and careful with money. After his college entrance exams, he got into a good university and won a sizable scholarship.

"The boy grew into a young man. Outside of classes, he spent his time playing games and watching anime. He never talked to anyone.

"Then an outbreak forced him to stay home all day playing games. But a bumbling goddess accidentally struck him dead with lightning. To make it up to him, she reincarnated him in another world.

"In that world, the young man became a member of its strongest race. But he also became a girl. And because that race was born with the power of a walking nuclear bomb, she was hunted by all kinds of Mecha Girls.

"She could have killed them in an instant. But she hated the thought of anyone getting hurt because of her, so she used her power only to protect herself. Every day was chaos..."

A Way to Interest Lingmeng?

"Lingmeng, that story you just told... Don't tell me..."

Shido frowned, his expression troubled.

"Think whatever you like. I've told you everything I meant to say." Lingmeng shrugged.

"So you're not from this world?"

"That's right. Surprised?" Lingmeng smiled teasingly.

"Yeah... Crossing into another world sounds pretty fantastical."

"Haha, fair enough. If I were you, I'd probably think anyone who said that was crazy and run away without another word."

Lingmeng narrowed her eyes slightly. "Hey, Shido. I don't want you to tell Kotori and the others about this."

"I understand... Even if Kotori reveals every embarrassing secret I have, I won't say a word."

Shido nodded gently as he answered.