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

"Lingmeng... I think we should avoid that phone shop from now on."

Shido looked at the delighted Lingmeng beside him and spoke with an embarrassed smile.

"Huh? Why?" Lingmeng asked, puzzled.

"I still can't forget the look the owner gave me when we left. He looked ready to rush over and punch me. I'd be too embarrassed to shop there again!"

Thinking back, the owner's expression might as well have said, "Kid, get your girlfriend out of here! I don't even want your business!"

But Shido couldn't blame the owner entirely. If he'd had a customer like Lingmeng, he probably would have lost his temper too.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Shido, you're still so young. A little thing like that scared you?"

Lingmeng wagged a finger, teasing him.

"You don't look much older than me. If anything, you look younger."

Seeing Lingmeng put on such a grown-up act, Shido couldn't help pointing it out.

"...Haha, fair enough." After a moment's silence, Lingmeng laughed awkwardly. She had forgotten that although she really was twenty-four, that had been in her previous life. Now, no matter how she looked at herself, she was a girl of about sixteen.

"Well, as long as you're happy." Shido shrugged. "Is there anywhere else you want to go?"

"Oho, I'm fine with anything! I've got my phone, so you can decide where we go next!"

Lingmeng answered easily, leaving the whole itinerary to Shido.

"Uh... Then... how about we start with the plaza?"

"Mm-hmm, you're in charge. Let's go!"

Before they knew it, evening had fallen. Shido had taken Lingmeng around to every place in Tengu City worth visiting.

He had only planned to look around for a bit before going home, but he hadn't expected to get so caught up in it. By the time they finished wandering, it was already this late.

Kotori's going to be angry when I get home so late, isn't she?

Shido stopped in his tracks and began imagining how his adorable little sister would react when he got back.

To his surprise, though, Lingmeng hadn't dawdled over the rest of their outing the way she had at the phone shop. She took a quick look at each attraction before moving on to the next, which made things much easier for him.

The evening light fell across the ground. Shido and Lingmeng were alone in a park in Tengu City.

"Thanks, Shido. I appreciate you being my free tour guide today."

Lingmeng stretched, turned to Shido, and smiled.

"...Yeah, no problem," Shido replied, blushing.

"Oh? You're blushing! Did my stunning looks make your heart skip a beat?"

Seeing how red his face was, Lingmeng teased him again.

Having been a man in her previous life, Lingmeng could more or less guess what Shido was thinking. She decided to use that to mess with him a little. She was a girl now, after all. As long as she didn't go too far, she could have her fun.

"Any normal guy would feel something when he saw a cute girl like you, Lingmeng! Stop teasing me!"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Lingmeng waved a hand, then muttered too quietly for Shido to hear, "If I had a choice, I wouldn't have become a girl at all!"

Lingmeng walked over to a vending machine, fed in the only change she had, and pressed a couple of buttons at random.

Clunk, clunk! Two cans of "otaku happy juice" dropped into the dispensing slot.

"Hey, Shido, this one's yours!" Lingmeng tossed him a can. "It's nothing expensive, but consider it a thank-you gift."

"...Thanks!" The cool drink against his hand finally helped Shido's flushed face return to normal.

Pop! Lingmeng and Shido pulled their tabs open at the same time. Lingmeng stepped beside him and smiled. "Come on, a toast to our friendship!"

"Yeah, to friendship!" Shido said with a smile.

They gently tapped their cans together and began to drink.

"Ahh, that hit the spot! Nothing beats a good old otaku happy juice!"

Lingmeng drained her cola and sighed like an old man.

"Otaku happy juice?" Shido stared at her, utterly confused by the unfamiliar name.

"Oh, come on. It's just another name for cola! Tons of otaku in China love drinking it, so it fits, doesn't it?"

"Is that so?" Shido murmured, looking at the cola in his hand.

"Well, it's getting late. You've probably got someone waiting for you at home, right? I should go too. Bye, friend. Maybe we'll meet again someday!"

"Yeah... Goodbye, Lingmeng."

Lingmeng threw her empty can into a trash bin, waved to Shido, and strode away.

Shido finished his cola and threw the can away too. Then he picked up his bag of Yunnan Baiyao and Chupa Chups and spoke with a relieved sigh.

"Time to go home. Kotori's probably still waiting for me."

"I'm home!" Shido changed his shoes and headed into the living room.

"Welcome back, big brother!" A girl of about thirteen, with red hair tied into twin tails by white ribbons, ran from the sofa and hugged him.

Shido patted the girl's head and smiled.

Kotori Itsuka was Shido's adorable little sister. If she hadn't asked her big brother to buy her Chupa Chups today, he wouldn't have met Lingmeng.

"Big brother, why are you back so late? Buying a few things shouldn't take that long!" Kotori puffed out her cheeks, looking a little unhappy. "What's in that bag? Wait, what happened to your face? Did someone hit you?"

She seemed to have noticed both the bag in Shido's hand and the bruises on his face, and her voice turned anxious.

"It's nothing. A few things happened, that's all." Not wanting his little sister to worry, Shido told Kotori everything that had happened that day.

"Oh! You stood up for a girl you didn't even know! That's my big brother! ('.?ω?.｀)"

After hearing Shido's explanation, Kotori nodded in understanding and spoke proudly.

"Okay, enough about that. Here are your Chupa Chups."

Shido handed Kotori the bag of Chupa Chups, warned her not to eat too many, and went into the kitchen to make dinner.

Meanwhile, Lingmeng floated above Tengu City, looking down at the whole city.

"Tengu City, huh? It really is a nice place. I'll come back if I get the chance!"

With that thought, Lingmeng vanished into the darkness...

The Strongest Magician ### "Wooo... wooo... wooo..."

The spatial quake alarm sounded. Once everyone on the streets had fled to the shelters, the spatial quake arrived right on cue—

A violent blast instantly tore a huge hole in the once-level street. None of the surrounding buildings escaped unscathed. It looked like something out of a science-fiction film, as though a meteor had struck the earth.

At the center of the destruction stood its direct cause, Qian Lingmeng, surveying the scene around her.

A week had passed since Lingmeng parted ways with the boy named Shido Itsuka. That brief spell of peace was over, and she had returned to her disaster-filled daily life.

"This is... the United Kingdom?"

The distinctively European architecture and the English covering a shattered billboard gave Lingmeng a good idea of where she was.

"If things go the way they usually do, those people should be here any moment."

She looked toward the distant sky. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the SSS members came flying in, clad in mechanical armor.

(Note: The SSS was the United Kingdom's counterpart to the AST.)

"Is that Element Maker?"

A woman who appeared to be their leader spotted Lingmeng on the ground and called out her identification code.

"Everyone, follow my orders. According to our intel, she doesn't attack humans. If we work together, we can definitely take her down!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The girls answered, ready for battle.

"On my mark! Three! Two! One! Charge!"

The captain swung her arm toward Lingmeng. At her command, the SSS members launched a fierce assault with light swords and machine guns...

"Well, let me be blunt. Just because I've put up with you doesn't mean you get to humiliate me!"

Lingmeng narrowed her eyes amid the gunfire, then shouted, "Come forth, Elemental Spirit!"

Having summoned her "strongest spear," Lingmeng began her own battle...

Meanwhile, at DEM headquarters, Isaac was lounging on a sofa as usual, savoring a cup of coffee.

The world's strongest magician, Ellen, stood straight beside him, watching him in silence.

"Ahh... All that gunfire. Has a Spirit appeared?"

Hearing the fierce gunshots in the distance, Isaac set down his coffee, stretched, and asked the question.

"Yes. According to the report that just came in, the Spirit who appeared this time is—"

"Element Maker, right?"

Before Ellen could finish, Isaac gave the answer with a smile.

"...Yes."

Ellen was annoyed at being interrupted, but since he was her boss, she held her tongue.

"If I remember correctly, you said you wanted to fight Element Maker if you ever got the chance. Go on, then. Consider it a temporary assignment from me."

Isaac waved a hand, giving Ellen permission to leave.

"Then excuse me for a while!"

"Haha, I like that look in your eyes! Let me see what the strongest can do!"

The murderous look in Ellen's eyes made Isaac laugh despite himself.

"No problem. Just wait here for me to bring you her head!"

With that, Ellen turned to leave.

"Oh, if possible, I'd rather you brought her back alive. I wouldn't mind having another specimen B or something like that."

Isaac spoke up just as Ellen opened the door to leave.

Ellen knew that "if possible" really meant she had to capture Lingmeng alive.

"...All right, I'll do my best." Ellen nodded reluctantly. "As long as she's alive, it doesn't matter if I remove her limbs, does it?"

"That's up to you!" Isaac shrugged, utterly at ease.

"Understood!" With that, Ellen went straight out the door.

"Damn it... How is she so strong?"

The SSS members lay sprawled on the ground, glaring angrily at Lingmeng, who sat at ease atop the rubble.

They could hardly believe Lingmeng had knocked all of them down in under a minute. Nothing like this had ever happened to them before.

Even when other Spirits had beaten them quickly, they had at least lasted a dozen minutes or so. Today, they hadn't even made it through one. It was a crushing blow to their confidence.

"Don't look so upset. I hate to say it, but if any Spirit truly wanted to fight you, you wouldn't fare much better than you did today."

Lingmeng sighed helplessly as she spoke.

It might damage their confidence, but Lingmeng was telling the truth.

As a Spirit herself, Lingmeng knew exactly how powerful Spirits were. She couldn't say for certain that every other Spirit was as strong as she was, but it wasn't impossible for them to defeat the SSS in a few minutes too.

"...Really?"