“I shall raise your brother; you need not worry!”
Upon hearing these words, Kotori was first dumbfounded, then her face slowly flushed, tinged with anger.
“Wh-what are you talking about?! Sh-Shido is my brother!”
“Exactly! Qianye, I’m a normal man; I don’t need a woman to support me!” Shido echoed her sentiment.
Kotori, however, was not appeased.
“Shut up, Shido, you don’t understand anything at all!” Kotori snapped, glaring fiercely at Shido, who, seeing her expression, promptly fell silent.
‘What on earth is going on?’ Shido was utterly bewildered. Yet, after spending a day with Qianye, he had come to understand her personality somewhat; she clearly enjoyed playing rather mischievous jokes on others, which often left him feeling awkward. At this point, Shido could only observe, waiting to see what Kotori and Qianye intended to do.
“It’s nothing much, really. I’m just very curious about one thing!” As Qianye spoke, she tightly hugged Shido’s arm, pressing it into her ample bosom, which caused Shido’s face to flush faintly.
“How exactly do you see Shido? Is it merely a sibling relationship, or… do you consider him a lover?”
The moment these words left Qianye’s lips, Kotori’s pretty face rapidly turned crimson, steaming like a superheated boiler, before she angrily stamped her foot, as if trying to conceal her shyness.
“W-what does how I see Shido have to do with you?!”
“It has everything to do with it!” Qianye’s brow relaxed slightly, a playful smile gracing her lips.
“If that’s the case, then a little flirtation between Shido and me shouldn’t be a problem, right, Onii-chan?”
“No way! Shido is *my* Onii-chan!” Kotori snatched Shido back, then hugged him tightly.
“I… I love Onii-chan the most!” As Kotori uttered these words, her voice rang out, high-pitched, as if all the air in her lungs had been expelled. After speaking, she leaned against Shido’s chest, utterly exhausted.
“Kotori!” Shido instinctively stroked Kotori’s head, her black hair ribbon swaying with the motion.
Then, Kotori headbutted him back.
“Th-that was just something I said in the heat of the moment! It wasn’t my true intention at all!” Kotori straightened up, crossing her arms over her chest, and, turning her slightly flushed face away, spoke while peeking at Shido with one eye.
“Hahaha, Kotori, you truly are a tsundere!” Qianye laughed heartily, stroking Kotori’s twin-tails.
“Your affection for Shido is clearly maxed out, yet you always refuse to admit it!”
“Urusai! That doesn’t count!” Kotori vehemently denied it.
“Then, what about your sealed spiritual power? Right, Efreet?” Qianye whispered softly into Kotori’s ear.
Kotori’s body stiffened, an expression of disbelief crossing her face.
“How do you know all this? Who exactly are you?”
“Well now? That’s hard to say, isn’t it?” Qianye stroked her chin. She certainly couldn’t tell Kotori that this was a two-dimensional world, and that she, by chance, had read the original story, thus knowing Kotori was a Spirit. Whether Kotori would believe her was beside the point; talking further might lead to spoilers. Given the rules Celia Agrate had set for Qianye, even if Qianye wanted to speak, she couldn’t. Qianye wondered if she could, like protagonists in some transmigration novels who transcribed *Dream of the Red Chamber* in ancient times, write a light novel titled *Date A Live*. That would probably be akin to a book of prophecy.
‘A book? A book of prophecy?’ Qianye’s eyes gleamed with insight; she seemed to have thought of something. ‘In *Date A Live*, the “Whispered Chronicle” of the old lady Natsumi Honjou, though not truly prophetic, is akin to a historical record of the ages, miraculously documenting all information.’
‘If possible, I could guide Kotori to think along these lines, though I’m not sure if that counts as a spoiler.’
‘But it’s worth a shot.’ With this thought, Qianye adopted a mysterious, almost otherworldly demeanor, like an enlightened sage.
“Kotori, don’t you think there might be a book in this world that miraculously records everything you’ve experienced?”
“If you were to turn the pages forward, the characters within that book would advance into the future.”
“If you were to turn the pages backward, the characters within that book would revert to the past.”
“Even if the characters within remain entirely unaware, such a thing truly exists.”
When Qianye first began speaking, Kotori looked as if she hadn’t understood a word, but the more she listened, the more astonished she became. ‘A book? Is she talking about Sister’s Angel? But wasn’t the Sister captured by DEM? Or is it related to another Spirit?’
‘No matter what, with the help of this book, the dating plan would proceed much more smoothly!’ At this thought, Kotori’s demeanor shifted considerably, and she attempted to speak in a pleading tone: “Please, I beg you, explain in detail!”
“Well, I…” Just as Qianye was about to speak, she suddenly felt a repulsive force emanating from the world itself.
“Oh, oh, time’s up. Well, this visit was rather long, wasn’t it?”
“Qianye, what’s wrong? Why is your body turning transparent?” Shido exclaimed in alarm, noticing Qianye’s form seemed to be vanishing.
“It’s nothing, Shido; it’s just that my time is up.” Qianye’s expression remained perfectly calm, without a trace of panic, as if she were stating a simple fact. Meeting is hard, and parting is also hard. However, if one is mentally prepared, though the pain is real, it is not unbearable.
“I had a wonderful time this visit, Shido. Remember to go to… on April tenth.” Before she could finish her sentence, Qianye’s entire form vanished completely. There was no trace of her left in the room, as if she had never appeared at all.
“Wait, Qianye!” Shido roared, lunging towards where Qianye had been, but grasped only empty air, ultimately finding nothing.
“Kotori, what on earth just happened? How could Qianye just vanish into thin air?” Shido yelled at Kotori.
“Calm down, Shido!” Kotori rapped him on the head.
“In a sense, Qianye isn’t truly human; you should be aware of that.”
“Oh, right, she did claim to be a Spirit!” Shido gradually calmed himself, recalling the brief day he had spent with Qianye. Many aspects of her had defied common sense.
“That’s right. The phenomenon you just witnessed is called Criticality, which is the transfer from our world to another.”
“Criticality? So, Qianye can still return?”
“Mhm. However, the rules governing Criticality and Manifestation remain unknown for now. For the details, I’ll first take you somewhere, and then I’ll explain… Shido, what’s wrong?”
Shortly after Qianye’s Criticality, Shido suddenly felt a profound weakness throughout his body, as if all his energy had been drained, and he gradually found himself unable to stand. His vision blurred, and Shido succumbed to unconsciousness, his thoughts ceasing.