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

Lingmeng and Shiori said it at the same time. Realizing they had the same idea, they walked over to the arcade machines, each chose one, and sat down.

"Shiori, do you know how to play this game?"

Lingmeng slipped a coin into the machine and asked.

Shiori did the same and nodded.

"Yeah. I played it back in middle school."

"Oh? What's your rank?" Lingmeng asked with a curious smile.

"Uh... well..." Shiori looked embarrassed, but she answered anyway. "St-stubborn Bronze..."

"Pfft—" Lingmeng mimed coughing up blood, then stared at her in disbelief.

"Come on, you could at least tell me you're Silver! Even an elementary school kid could reach Bronze just by messing around. Are you sure you've actually played?"

"I can't help it, Lingmeng. I really am only Bronze."

Shiori scratched her cheek awkwardly. She had liked playing the game, but that didn't mean she was good at it!

She had tried her best to climb the ranks, and this was as far as she had gotten. What else could she do? She was just as frustrated!

"What rank are you, then, Lingmeng?"

Shiori turned the question on her to change the subject.

Lingmeng gave an awkward smile and scratched her cheek too.

"Um... would you believe me if I said I haven't made an account yet?"

The Shrine

"Huh? You don't even have an account?"

Shiori sounded surprised. Lingmeng had just criticized her rank, yet she didn't even have an account herself.

"Uh... well..." Lingmeng looked embarrassed. She might have reached King rank, but that was in a different game. She really had never played this near-identical copy.

"Come on, don't sweat the details." Lingmeng shrugged. "I might not have played this one, but I can still wipe the floor with a few ordinary players. Trust me, I'm a pro!"

"Is that so..."

While Shiori was still unsure whether to believe her, the two of them logged into the game.

"Just sit back and let me carry you, Shiori. I'll show you how a professional does it!"

Lingmeng quickly created an account, skipped the tutorial, started a match, and invited Shiori in.

With the game about to begin, Shiori said nothing more and turned her attention to the screen.

"Ah, Shiori, I'm never playing that game with you again."

Lingmeng and Shiori had left the arcade and were strolling down the street.

Lingmeng hung her head, her voice utterly defeated.

"Am I really that bad?"

Seeing how strongly Lingmeng had reacted, Shiori's mouth twitched.

"You mean you didn't notice at all?"

Lingmeng covered her face with one hand and sighed.

"You're not just bad. You might be the worst teammate I've ever had."

"Uh... sorry about that."

Shiori didn't take the criticism too hard. She hardly ever played, so Lingmeng's reaction was understandable.

Lingmeng gave two dry chuckles and fell silent.

Truthfully, she had gone in prepared for Shiori to drag the team down.

Surely, even if Shiori couldn't play, she would be better than Xier Ya?

To Lingmeng's astonishment, Shiori was not only on Xier Ya's level, she showed signs of surpassing her.

Shiori had played without the slightest sense of strategy.

When the rest of the team had chosen their roles and only needed a support to balance things out, Shiori picked an assassin.

When Lingmeng asked why, Shiori awkwardly said she hadn't known the game assigned roles, so she had chosen that character.

That alone was a minor problem. With enough skill, a team could manage without support.

Then Shiori proved Lingmeng wrong all over again.

At the start of the match, Shiori didn't farm the jungle or fight the enemy. Guess what she did instead?

She went to attack an enemy tower, alone and without any minions to shield her!

The outcome was obvious. Shiori handed the enemy tower a kill and became the match's first blood.

Lingmeng stared in shock. Only then did she realize how serious the problem was.

After that, she spent nearly the entire match covering Shiori to keep her from dying so easily.

When Lingmeng went for the blue buff, she let Shiori have it.

The moment she looked away, an enemy slaughtered Shiori.

The same thing happened with the red buff. Lingmeng let her guard down for an instant, and Shiori was slaughtered again.

Shiori bought equipment at random, piling gear completely unsuited to her assassin role onto her character.

Between that and all her other bizarre moves, Lingmeng almost suspected Shiori was a spy sent by the other team.

By the latter half of the match, Lingmeng finally couldn't take it anymore.

She asked Shiori to stay at their base, then left her there and went to fight the enemy alone.

In the end, Lingmeng single-handedly turned the entire match around. But she felt no joy in winning. She was exhausted in body and mind, as though she had been wrung dry.

I, Qian Lingmeng, swear I will never play that game with Shiori again!

In her mind, Lingmeng raised her right hand and made a solemn vow.

As they walked on, Lingmeng and Shiori spotted a shrine around a corner.

It wasn't particularly large, just an ordinary-sized shrine.

Judging by its weathered exterior, though, it had been there for quite some time.

"Shiori, is that a shrine?" Lingmeng asked, pointing ahead.

"Yeah." Shiori nodded. "I think it's been here since Tengu City was founded. It's one of the city's better-known attractions now."

"I see..." Lingmeng murmured, then smiled. "Can we take a look?"

She put the request to Shiori.

Like the maid café, shrines were something Lingmeng had only seen in anime. That was why she wanted to visit one.

"Sure. Let's go."

Shiori didn't understand why Lingmeng wanted to visit the shrine, but since she did, Shiori went along.

"Wow. It doesn't look that big, but it's impressive."

Inside the shrine, Lingmeng took in the splendid decorations and voiced her admiration.

The atmosphere made Lingmeng and Shiori feel as though a god truly lived there.

Swish, swish.

While Lingmeng was still admiring the place, a sound reached them.

Realizing someone else might be in the shrine, she and Shiori looked around.

Not far behind them, a beautiful girl with long black hair and delicate features was sweeping the ground in shrine maiden robes.

Like the maids at the Spirit Maid Café, the girl had a beauty that could rival any spirit's.

But she gave off a different air from those maids. By Japanese standards, she was the very image of a traditional Yamato nadeshiko.

Lingmeng and Shiori both froze at the sight of her. Her beauty hit them that hard.

Their faces seemed to say, Mom, I'm in love!

"Oh my, visitors? That's rare."

The black-haired girl noticed Lingmeng and Shiori watching her and stopped sweeping.

She waved to them both.

With a smile that seemed capable of soothing any heart and a voice sweeter than a skylark's song, she greeted them...

Yakumo Mikoto and Tsukuyomi

"Um... I'm very sorry. We didn't mean to disturb you."

Coming back to herself, Shiori realized the girl had spotted them and scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"No, no, it's fine." The girl shook her head gently, showing she didn't mind.

"Then we won't bother you any longer. Come on, Lingmeng."

"Huh? Already? Σ(?д?lll)"

Shiori made to leave with Lingmeng. Lingmeng wasn't happy about it, but she agreed.

Before they got far, however, the girl called out to them.

"Eh? You only just arrived, and you're leaving? I really don't mind."

The girl looked on the verge of tears.

"Someone finally came to visit, and you're leaving so soon. That's so sad..."

Shiori and Lingmeng both stopped.

They turned back to a pitiful expression cute enough to make any shut-in drop dead on the spot.

Ah... too cute! (///ˊ?ˋ///)

With the same thought flashing through their minds, they instantly gave up on leaving.

"Ah, how could I walk away when such a cute girl looks like that?"

Lingmeng swept out a hand. "Shiori! I'm not leaving! I'm staying!"

"Lingmeng..." Shiori frowned, then sighed in surrender. "All right... If this young lady doesn't mind, we'll stay."

The black-haired girl immediately brightened when she saw they weren't leaving.

"Why would I mind? You're the only visitors I've had lately. Of course you're welcome!"

She looked genuinely excited. It seemed the shrine really hadn't had visitors in a long time.

"I'm Shiori Itsuka, and she's Qian Lingmeng. You can call us Shiori and Lingmeng. We happened to pass by and wanted to take a look."

"Mhm! (^ω^)"

As Shiori introduced them and Lingmeng smiled and waved, the girl nodded happily.

"Um..." Shiori scratched her cheek awkwardly. "This might be a little forward, but I'm curious."

"Hmm? About what?" The girl tilted her head.

Shiori asked her directly.

"Where's Granny Tamako? If I remember right, she runs this shrine. And you seem to be a shrine maiden here. Are you her granddaughter, or...?"