Chapter 80 Volume 4 Chapter 13: The Girls’ Date (Final Part)
In this awkward atmosphere, Shiori forced herself to ask a question:
“Miku… what… what are you doing here?”
Hearing this, Miku spun lightly in place, turning toward the audience seats as if they weren’t empty at all, but filled with a cheering crowd just for her.
“Because, you know, I really love the feeling of standing on a stage!”
“Standing… on a stage?”
“Yep. Everyone loves my singing, and I really enjoy it too—so when I passed by earlier, I just couldn’t resist singing out loud.”
“I see…”
Shiori scratched her cheek awkwardly as she replied.
“...Unwarranted arrogance. ‘Everyone loves my singing’… Miku.”
Tenqi Sanluo, standing beside them like an observer, analyzed the spirit’s personality based on her exchanges with Shiori.
From her experience, such arrogance usually stemmed from some sort of past trauma that turned into insecurity or obsessive tendencies.
If she could just get more concrete evidence, it would be perfect.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t—at least not now. Even if she could twist Miku’s head off and eat it, she still wouldn’t gain Miku’s memories.
Just then, Miku tilted her head, as though she had discovered something interesting.
“A girl like you is really rare, Shiori-chan—you’ve never heard my name before?”
“Well… um…”
Just as Shiori struggled to think of an answer, Miku smiled and gently shook her head.
“Oh dear, I’ve troubled you. Please don’t worry about it.”
As she spoke, she stepped lightly—almost like dancing—toward the perimeter of the room.
“Well then, it’s about time we head back.”
Since she said so, Shiori couldn’t find a reason to force her to stay.
She nodded and prepared to leave with her.
“I’d like to talk to her a little more… but forcing a conversation isn’t good. As for asking Tenqi Sanluo beside me for help… never mind, pretend I didn’t say that. In any case, we’ll just have to look for another opportunity like today when she’s alone, and try to deepen contact then.”
Kotori’s voice came through the earpiece. Shiori nodded slightly and looked at Miku.
“Yeah… this place isn’t ideal to stay in for long. If we’re found here, it’ll be trouble…”
Shiori followed behind Miku backstage, hoping she could use this chance to squeeze in a little more conversation.
At that moment, Tenqi Sanluo seemed to notice Shiori’s distress. The corner of her mouth lifted as she walked quickly over, grabbed the hem of Shiori’s skirt, and forcibly slowed her pace.
“Cute Shiori-chan, are you troubled because you couldn’t have a longer conversation with Miku?”
“Huh? Um, Tenqi-chan…”
Feeling the tug on her skirt, Shiori blushed intensely—whether from the unfamiliar sensation of wearing a skirt or from Tenqi Sanluo’s words was unclear.
Either way, her pace visibly slowed.
“Itsuka Shiori, I’m only speaking to you kindly because you gave up your chastity and cross-dressed today. Don’t refuse a toast only to drink forfeit wine.”
Her tone was gentle, but Shiori didn’t dare question the threat implied in “forfeit wine.”
He glanced ahead to check if Miku noticed anything—she didn’t.
Only then—
“...Yes, Tenqi-chan. My conversation with her wasn’t enough. And I didn’t get more chances for contact.”
“Shido!”
“Itsuka Kotori, shut up. This has nothing to do with you.”
Tenqi Sanluo tapped the earpiece like a warning, then leaned toward Shiori again.
“I’ll help you this once. Consider it compensation for those two bullets I gave you the other day.
But—since I’m giving you this chance, you’d better entertain me properly.”
“Eh?”
Before Shiori could react, Tenqi Sanluo pushed him to the side.
His skirt snagged on a piece of equipment backstage and tore, making it look as though he tripped because it got caught.
“Uwah—!”
“Huh?”
Hearing Shiori’s cry, Miku quickly turned around.
Seeing cute Shiori seemingly fall, she rushed over in a panic, helping her up.
“Are you okay?”
Shiori’s butt still throbbed with pain.
Luckily he was wearing shorts under the skirt—no risk of indecent exposure.
As for Tenqi Sanluo, after pushing Shiori, she simply stood aside as though uninvolved.
When Miku ran over, she even replaced her teasing expression with a worried one.
Just as Shiori grabbed Miku’s offered hand, a sharp sting shot through his palm—
“Oh no!”
He must have scraped himself. Thankfully the wound didn’t seem bad, but he hoped it wouldn’t activate the Flame of Healing in front of Miku.
His slight flinch instantly caught Miku’s attention.
She frowned with real concern, then took out a lace-edged handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped it around Shiori’s hand.
“N-no, you don’t need to—”
“Of course I do! A pretty girl like you must take good care of herself! Make sure you disinfect it when you get home, okay?”
“…Okay…”
Shiori felt awkward.
From his own experience, this kind of handling might actually be more likely to cause infection…
But it didn’t matter—because while Miku wrapped the handkerchief around his hand, the Flame of Healing had already activated.
To hide the glow, Shiori deliberately held the injured hand behind his back.
“Thank you… Miku-chan…”
Using his uninjured hand, Shiori held Miku’s gently. He didn’t look too shaken anymore.
Miku finally relaxed and moved ahead, guiding Shiori along.
“...Anyway, we really have to thank Tenqi Sanluo this time. Now you’ve got Miku’s handkerchief— a perfectly legitimate reason to meet her again. That means more interaction with the spirit.”
Kotori’s voice sounded especially low, probably because she was trying not to let Tenqi Sanluo overhear.
“Ah… yeah…”
Miku pulled Shiori along, passing under the “Do Not Enter” tape and returning to the audience area of the central stage.
“Sorry, sorry—and thank you for helping me.”
Shiori bowed politely, as instructed earlier.
Miku waved her hand with a gentle smile.
“No need to thank me, really—”
But halfway through, she suddenly stopped.
“Huh? Where’s Tenqi-chan?”
“Eh?”
Shiori looked around.
As expected, the large audience area had no trace of the blood-red figure.
“Kotori?”
“…Oh. The moment you were pulled away by Miku, Tenqi Sanluo went out ahead of you.”
“Huh?”
“But that’s actually a good thing. Without her interfering, your communication with Miku will go much more smoothly, won’t it?”
“Haha, that’s true…”
---
Meanwhile, outside—
“…Genie (Shura), what are you planning to do?”
Tobiichi Origami stared warily at the girl in Rindouji’s uniform standing before her.
“Nothing. I just don’t want you going in and disturbing them— including me.”
After pushing Shiori earlier, Tenqi Sanluo had sensed Origami’s presence and slipped out at the right moment to intercept her.
No way was she letting Origami rush in and shout her codename in front of Miku.
Even if Miku were an idiot, she would realize Tenqi Sanluo was a spirit—and that would ruin the script Tenqi had designed for herself.
“Let me through. Shido is inside.”
“No.”
Origami was smart. She knew Tenqi would never let her pass.
So why did she even bother asking?
“Then—although I’m no match for you—”
With righteous determination, Origami charged forward.
Reckless. She had just activated her CR-Unit and hadn’t even summoned her weapon yet.
Maybe she thought Tenqi Sanluo would dodge and she could use that gap to rush inside.
But…
The fight was extremely simple.
By the time others found her, Tobiichi Origami was already unconscious—
lying inside a nearby trash bin.
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