“Kotori?”
Shido stared at Kotori, dumbfounded. He was certain that the girl before him was none other than his adorable younger sister—Itsuka Kotori.
Yet, the Kotori Shido saw now was subtly different from the innocent and charming sister he remembered.
“You… are you really Kotori?”
“Oh my! Shido, have you forgotten what your own sister looks like? Even a fish’s memory lasts three seconds. While I’ve always known your memory is terrible, it at least used to be within the realm of human capability. I never imagined you’d now be comparable only to animals!”
“Should I go ahead and book you a spot at a nursing home? Oh, wait, I don’t think you’d even need a nursing home. You could just go straight to a psychiatric hospital. No, actually, not even a psychiatric hospital. Your condition is beyond cure; you’d need to be admitted to a laboratory for research. After all, research material like you is quite rare.”
Kotori slightly raised her chin, looking down at Shido, and uttered a barrage of venomous remarks uncharacteristic of her usual self.
“…You… you *are* Kotori, right? Are you alright?” Shido gazed at the Kotori before him, utterly incredulous.
In his memory, his beloved younger sister would never address him by name directly, much less utter such biting remarks that seemed utterly alien to her character.
Shido found it difficult to reconcile the sadistic Kotori standing before him with the innocent and adorable sister etched in his memories.
“It feels like far too many inexplicable things have happened today. My mind is a whirlwind. Kotori, when did you arrive? What are you doing here? And why has your personality changed so drastically…”
“Clap!”
Although Shido still had numerous questions, Kotori clapped her hands, as if to say, “Enough, enough, no need to say more,” cutting off his inquiries.
“I know you have many questions, Shido, but under the current circumstances, I can’t explain them all to you one by one. So, I’ll make one thing clear first!”
Kotori walked over to Ji Qianye, who had been sitting there, idly ‘eating melon,’ so to speak. She stood tall, placed her left hand on her hip, and deliberately puffed out her still-developing chest, seemingly trying her best to project an air of superiority, unwilling to concede any ground in terms of presence.
“Shido tells me your name is Qianye, is that right? Should I call you Qianye, or should I call you Succubus?”
Ji Qianye clapped her hands. “You should just call me Qianye! After all, ‘Succubus’ is a codename the AST gave me. As the commander of an organization dedicated to saving Spirits, you wouldn’t want to be like the AST, whose goal is to annihilate them, would you, Commander Kotori?”
Ji Qianye’s words brought a look of surprise to Kotori’s face.
“How do you know about Ratatoskr’s existence?”
However, in this mode, Kotori quickly regained her composure from the shock, swiftly adopting a proud expression.
“While I don’t know how you learned about Ratatoskr, if you’re aware of Ratatoskr, then I won’t need to explain so much!”
“No, I only know there’s an organization dedicated to saving Spirits, but I haven’t memorized its name. It’s something like ‘Rata-something,’ right?”
“Ratatoskr,” Kotori sighed, repeating the name once more.
“Right, the ‘Sloppy Tesla,’ isn’t it?” Ji Qianye said, feigning sudden realization.
“It’s not that at all!” Kotori quickly denied.
“Then what was it, exactly?” Ji Qianye strained to recall the organization’s name, but regrettably, it truly eluded her.
“It’s called… never mind, that’s not the point!” Kotori clearly had no patience to argue over a name again.
“Since you know all this, I’ll be direct: I want you to go on a date with Shido, and then make you fall in love with this world!”
“Wait, what does that have to do with me?”
The moment Shido heard himself being involved, he immediately became restless.
“Date Qianye? Me?”
“So, you lack confidence in dating, then? That makes sense. After all, Shido, you’ve never had a single female friend your age besides me since you were little. How could you possibly organize a good date?”
“Uh…”
Shido was about to retort, but he was interrupted by Ji Qianye’s laughter.
“Hahahahaha…” Ji Qianye burst into laughter, tilting her head back.
“You two siblings are absolutely hilarious! Truly, you live up to your reputation!”
Ji Qianye laughed so hard that tears streamed from the corners of her eyes.
“But speaking of which, Kotori, Shido is your favorite brother! Aren’t you worried about being ‘cuckolded’ by sending him out on a date with someone else like this?”
“Urusai! Shido and I are siblings!” Kotori suddenly changed her tone, crossing her arms over her chest, her pretty face flushed, and turned her head away, refusing to meet Shido’s gaze.
“Whoever he dates is his own business; it has nothing to do with me! Besides, the purpose of his date is to save the world. What is there for me to be reluctant about?”
“Is that so? You said it yourself!”
Ji Qianye’s smile widened. She dashed straight towards Shido, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder, and declared in a saccharine voice, “Onii-chan, let’s go on a date!”
“What?!”
“You fiend!”
The siblings reacted quite differently: Shido was utterly astonished, while Kotori wore an expression of pure fury.
‘Heh heh, Kotori truly is a tsundere. Teasing her like this is the most fun.’
As Ji Qianye thought this, she didn’t loosen her embrace; instead, she hugged Shido even tighter.
“Shido, since you don’t want me to call you ‘husband’ and you don’t want me to call you ‘master,’ then I’ll just have to call you Onii-chan!”
Having said that, Ji Qianye cast a provocative (and teasing) glance towards Kotori.
“Your brother, I shall take care of him. Worry not!”