Date a Live Volume 18-22

Chapter 3: Spirit War

"────Fufufufu, fufufu, fu──fufu♪"

Shidou was walking along the main street of Tenguu City, accompanied by Tohka who was humming a pleasant song.

He didn't know if this was due to spring break starting since yesterday, but it was a bit more crowded than usual even though it was before noontime. The sunshine felt soft as the spring breeze was warm. On the front of a store, there was poster at the center written about supporting a new life. Whether he liked it or not, he could feel the arrival of a new season of both encounters and separations.

While walking along the street, Tohka was dressed in a light coat and a long skirt with colors matching springtime. After waiting for about 30 minutes for Tohka to dry her hair and change clothes, she had transformed into an elegant lady.

"........."

Watching this exceedingly natural event, Shidou suddenly remembered a mysterious feeling. After all, when she first entered the Spirit mansion, she first mistakenly thought the hair drier was some sort of weapon. At the same time the warm air blew out, a reversal in the flow of reiryoku had occurred.

No, on the contrary, she even wore clothes very strangely at first. Wearing a shirt upside down in the beginning, she mistook a belt for a weapon thrown to shatter glass, or even as something worn over sports pants.

That was only a small glimpse of the entire picture. Tohka's life as a human being was a series of
hardships. For her, it was like being thrown into a world where nothing was known. Despite
<Ratatoskr>'s support, there were still many things that she was confused about.

However, Tohka had no fear of mistakes or repeated blunders. She thoroughly enjoyed the
learning process for this unknown world. ──Shidou, who would smiled wryly at her comical blunders, didn't know when he started to respect her great efforts.

......It was probably because of Tohka's cheerfulness that he remembered this sort of thing. Shidou scratched his cheek as he watched Tohka merrily walk next to himself.

No matter how he looked at it, this was the usual Tohka. At the very least, he didn't think it was inverse Tohka acting. It was inverse Tohka who had taken away Mio's Sephira Crystal. That was likely correct. But as long as they shared the same body, he should be able to seal that reiryoku by kissing Tohka. But──

"──Shidou!"

At that moment, hearing his name being called out, Shidou felt a jolt reach his shoulders.

"O-ooh, what is it?"

Even in the current situation, it was strictly forbidden to be so deeply lost in his thoughts that he would leave a girl alone during a date. Shidou replied back while trying to fake excitement in his voice.

However, Tohka didn't seem to worry about this as she pointed to the front with a nostalgic
expression.

"Do you remember? It was nearby here."

"Eh......?"
Being told this, Shidou looked towards the direction indicated by Tohka.

However, there was nothing special there. It was just a street. There were no food places that Tohka would have liked nor any monuments designed to attract attention.

Shidou thought about it for a while but he still couldn't think of anything. Shidou turned to
Tohka with an apologetic look.

"......Sorry. Did something happen here?"

"What, have you forgotten? ──No, I don't blame you. After all, the roads and buildings were all broken at that time."

"That time?"