Date Acceleration II (Complete)

Chapter 16

Hearing Kotori's words, Shido broke out in cold sweat.

Certainly, it was a considerable advantage to know what the other party was seeking, especially in a match where the person who falls in love first loses. If one were to describe the current situation, it'd be like approaching Kurumi completely naked while she was wearing extra layers of armor.

Being forced to be aware of his own thoughtlessness once again, Shido bitterly distorted an unpleasant facial expression.

Watching Shido let out such a look, Kotori shrugged her shoulders.

"There's no need to make an expression like a Chihuahua stuck in the rain. Like I said earlier, in that situation you had no choice but to accept Kurumi's proposal. Even if communications hadn't been cut off, what's happening now wouldn't change. Let's talk about what to do next."

"Ah, yes......"

After listening to what Kotori had to say, Shido also gave an affirmative nod in response. Then, Shido patted down his cheeks to bestir his fighting spirit. If he were to allow his sister to get worried about the feelings of anxiety resurfacing on his face, he would be a disgrace as an older brother.

At that moment, Shido remembered the words that Kotori had mentioned before.

"Ah...... That's right, Kotori. What happened when communications were interrupted? I was worried because I heard something resembling panic......"

"Ahhh......"

For some reason, Kotori crossed her arms and made a difficult expression.

"Now that I think about it, we still haven't told you yet...... At that time, there was a strange reaction on Ratatoskr's radar."

"Strange reaction?"

"That's correct, although it happened suddenly; I can't believe it in the least, but......"

"——Allow me to explain that part."

Then, barging in on Kotori, a voice echoed from behind them.

As Shido turned in the direction of that voice, his eyes cracked open in wide shock at the figure of the person standing there.

It was a girl about the same height as Kotori. Her hair was tied up in a single ponytail and there was distinctive mole underneath her eye. More importantly, right now her entire body was covered with poultice and a bandage plaster.

"Mana!?"

Over there stood Shido's real younger sister, Takamiya Mana.

"When did you...... More than that, where did you get those injuries! Are you alright!?"

"It's no big deal. Just a scratch."

As Mana smiled while waving her hand with a flutter, Kotori glared at her with a displeased expression.

"You...... If I recall properly, didn't I let you go to the medical pod for treatment?" Kotori asked with a restrained angry look.

"Haha...... Sorry, I'll return after I'm finished talking. Just for a second...... There's something I need to tell Nii-sama and the others."

Mana's smile quietly faded from her countenance as she turned around, her eyes displaying a more serious gaze towards Shido.

"What do you want to tell us?"

"Yes, to Nii-sama and the others, while you were talking to Nightmare——Tokisaki Kurumi, about what happened during then."

Mana sat down on an empty chair as she continued on.