This is not the date I wanted.

"Then I'll go get another cup of coffee."

"Um……"

Shidou felt somewhat relieved by the girl's subtle response, and trotted over to the vending machine.

"Well... I'll choose coffee with milk and syrup this time."

After thinking for a while, Shidou pressed the menu button slightly.

The bitter coffee is just for refreshing. Shidao knows that Mengyue usually prefers a milder and mellower taste that can calm her mood.

"Here's the coffee, Mengyue."

"Thanks……"

After taking the coffee handed over by Shidao, Mengyue whispered a thank you, opened the can, and sipped it gently like a little animal.

"call……"

After letting out a sigh of relief, Meng Yue's expression calmed down a lot.

"Really - deliberately letting people reveal the scars that they have endured with great difficulty... Shidou really loves to bully others."

She complained with a hint of resentment. Although she could still see traces of the girl's crying in the corners of her eyes, Mengyue was gradually returning to her normal appearance.

"I'm so sorry..."

Shidou lowered his head guiltily.

"A verbal apology alone cannot resolve my resentment. As a man, Shidou, you should express your apology with more substantial actions."

Normally, Meng Yue would understand Shidao's difficulties and not pursue the matter any further when she got here. However, it seems that she is not going to let Shidao off so easily this time.

"So, Mengyue, what do you want me to do? I'll do it, no matter what it is."

"Anything is okay?"

Hearing Shidao's words, Meng Yue's eyes suddenly shone brightly. Shidao suddenly felt like he had been tricked. However, after all, he had been prepared when he said it, so Shidao nodded without hesitation.

"Well, anything is fine."

"Well then, Shidou...you sit down too."

What surprised Shidao was that Mengyue simply patted the empty grass beside him and motioned for him to sit down too.

Although he was a little confused, Shidou still followed his instructions and sat on the lawn.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Then, Mengyue stood up, patted the weeds on her pants, sat in front of Shidao with her back to him, leaned back, and leaned her delicate body in Shidao's arms.

Like a stray cat that found a comfortable bed, Mengyue closed her eyes comfortably.

"Okay! I forgive you."

"Eh? That's it?"

After being stunned for a moment, Shidou asked with a look of disbelief.

"What's wrong? You still look like you can't accept it. Is this not okay?"

"Well, of course you can...but I originally thought you were suggesting that I wear women's clothing to take a photo of Shiori's cosplay for you."

Hearing Shidou's low muttering, Mengyue chuckled.

"As expected of you, Shidou, you can actually guess what I'm thinking."

I've really thought about it——Shidou suppressed the urge to complain. He asked again.

"Is it really okay to do something like this?"

"Well... that's enough."

Mengyue nodded gently.

In fact, Mengyue didn't think Shidou had any reason to atone for his sins. After all, it was Mengyue's own choice to keep these memories, and she had already prepared herself to endure these pains. Rather, Mengyue felt that Shidou should compensate Tohka and the others who had already obtained the happiness they wanted but were forced to forget everything.

But...if I act a little bit spoiled, it shouldn't be considered as sneaking away...

Pour her focus into Shidou's arms, enjoying the nostalgic warmth and tenderness, Mengyue's face showed a happy smile.

"Shidou... Actually, when Maruna accepted me and was willing to become my family... I felt very happy."

"Well, everyone is safe and sound. There really is nothing better than this."

After hearing what Shidou said, Meng Yue had a complicated expression for some reason, and replied with a wry smile.

"That's true, but what I said is... a little different from what Shidou said."

"different?"

At Shidou's puzzled expression, Mengyue slowly exhaled and said.

"Shidou, remember the day you sealed me, I once said - I am jealous of you."

"Remember……"

Shidou nodded.

I remember that night, Ryougi Yumezuki confessed to me one of the reasons why she couldn't accept Shidou - jealousy.

This does not mean that she feels unbalanced because Shidao has an ordinary and stable life that Yumezuki does not have. Rather, she feels guilty and unwilling to be powerless because she was unable to change the fate of her friends, the Yamai sisters, who were fighting each other.

Although Shidou felt that Mengyue would never lose to him in terms of wanting to save Yamai, the girl still felt aggrieved about it.

"Actually, at that time... I was about to give up. My ability couldn't change anything, nor could I save anything. I thought that the only person in this world who could be a hero was Shidou. Only Shidou had the ability to save others."

Perhaps because she didn’t want others to hear what she said, Meng Yue lowered her head in disappointment.

"That's not true. I don't have the qualifications to be a hero!"

Hearing that he was given such a high evaluation, Shidou quickly waved his hands to deny it.

"Well, I believe that it's not just me. In everyone's mind, Shidou is also the hero who saved them."

Seeing Shidou's panicked look, Meng Yue couldn't help but chuckled, waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I know that Gokawa Shidou has no intention of becoming a hero, nor is he the material to become a hero. He is just a simple idiot."

That's right, the Gokawa Shido that Ryougi Yumezuki knew was a man who had never longed for a thrilling adventure, nor had he expected a beautiful encounter. He just wanted to live an ordinary and peaceful life with his family, an ordinary high school student.

Although in my own impression, Japanese high school students can hardly be equated with ordinary people.

He had no means of self-protection, nor the ability to fight against AST. He just wanted to avoid seeing the other person's sad face, which was a boring and even ridiculous obsession. This boy, who had never interacted with the opposite sex except his family, walked into this cruel and turbulent world without hesitation and lent a helping hand to the girl he had never met before.

If not a fool, then what is it?

Imagining the depressed expression of Shidou behind her, Mengyue smiled brightly.

"So - when I saved Junai, I felt very happy!"

It's not that I want to be a fool like Gokawa Shidao. It's just that I am not completely powerless. My slender hands can also save important family members.

Just confirming this made Mengyue satisfied.

Staring at the girl's smiling profile, Shidou couldn't help but be lost in thought.

"Hey... Shidou, why did you come here to tell me about recovering your memory?"

Meng Yue asked curiously.

"Why...?"

Shidou fell silent for a while.

To be honest, I just had a feeling that I had to say it, and then a surge of blood rushed to my head, and when I came to my senses, it became like this.

Why? Shidao couldn't help but ask himself.

Is it because of the guilt for doing something wrong that he wants to express his apology to Mengyue?

--no.

Or is it because he feels guilty about what he has done, so he wants to hear words of forgiveness from Mengyue's mouth to make himself feel at ease?

--no.

Shidou could not deny that he had felt regret and guilt. But if he let the girl in front of him cry like before for such a small reason, it would be too irresponsible.

Looking up at the sky, Shidao discovered that the night sky had become a bright and moving starry sky. He didn't know when, countless bright stars appeared around the bright crescent moon, shining with moving light.

Yeah…isn’t the answer obvious?

"Because I am Meng Yue's family. Sharing joy and bearing pain together, isn't that what family is all about?"

Shidou said in a steady yet firm voice.

“Even if Meng Yue is annoyed that I reminded you of bad memories, I want to tell you - you are no longer alone.”

Gently holding Mengyue's hand, the girl seemed startled by this unexpected action, but did not struggle, and her ears were dyed a lovely bright red.

"Shidou...you really are an incredible playboy."

After a moment's silence, Meng Yue looked up at the sky and uttered such a strange sigh.

"Shidou, can you let me ask you a weird question one last time?"

"what?"

"What do you want to do in the future? Have you thought about it yet?"

“It’s really a strange question.”

Shidou said with a little surprise.

"It's not really strange, it's normal for a high school student of Shidou's age to think about these issues."

"Now that you mention it, it's true..." Shidou scratched his head in confusion, "I haven't thought about it. After all, there are still the DEM issue and Tohka and the others' problems, so I haven't thought about this issue at all.

"

"But you can't possibly regard saving elves as your main job, or do you plan to let everyone support you in the future and live the life of a gigolo?

Meng Yue's sarcastic yet realistic words left Shidao speechless for a moment.

"I don't know what the rules are for coming to the Zen school, but I think they'll be handing out a career path questionnaire soon. What are you going to write, Shidou?"

"This one……"

Shidou, who had never considered this question, broke out in cold sweat of embarrassment on his forehead.

"...house husband?"

"You really intend to be a gigolo!"

Meng Yue complained speechlessly.

"Haha... What about you, Mengyue? Is there anything you want to do?" After Shidao laughed awkwardly twice, he decisively chose to change the subject.

"Yes!" Unexpectedly, Meng Yue nodded without hesitation, "I have two things I want to do. The first one is kept secret for now. The second one... I want to become a game designer."

"Game designer?"

Mengyue nodded excitedly.

"Yeah, it's like 'Let's Fall in Love, MY☆LITTLE☆Shidou②', a virtual game that you can completely immerse yourself in, a game world that feels like the real world."

Although the technology of the core display device is confidential, Mengyue believes that with the development of time, this technology will one day be shown to the world.

"Just like in reality, for Juna?"

Meng Yue did not deny Shidao's question.

"Well, there is also this reason. As information becomes more and more abundant, the feeling that can be obtained in the virtual world will become more and more realistic. This can be regarded as fulfilling one of Junai's wishes. Moreover, I also want to try it myself. Then, on the day when the game is successfully released, I will, as the game manager, say to the players - 'If you die in this game, you will die in the real world too'."

"It's just a pure death game!"

"Of course, I just wanted to talk about it."

“What a bad taste!”

Even though he said this, Shidou couldn't help but smile when he saw Mengyue describing her dream with great excitement on her face.

Unlike Shidou who only wants to protect the present, Mengyue's eyes are staring firmly into the future.

"I'm looking forward to..." Meng Yue looked at Shidao and smiled brightly, "the day when Shidao can give his own answer."

Shidou suddenly realized that even if he sealed the spirit power of the elves so that they no longer had to worry about being hunted by the magician, it did not mean that they could live a truly ordinary life. The reality was that even in this seemingly insignificant game, they would be involved in troublesome incidents. He had never even thought of an ordinary question that a normal high school student should think about.

It won't work just like this now.