This is not the date I wanted.

"...Shidou. As a fan who has always followed the formal channels to pursue idols, I despise you from the bottom of my heart."

"I am so sorry."

After apologizing from the bottom of their hearts, Shidou and Mengyue looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

"Well, there's almost no way anyone here will hear it."

After walking out of the bustling Akihabara electronics street, Mengyue took a short detour to avoid the noisy crowd.

After making sure that no one would hear the conversation, Meng Yue slowed down his pace slightly and his voice became serious.

"Origami Tobiichi, like you, Shidou, has memories of the previous world line."

"——!?"

Hearing Meng Yue's words, Shidao couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

Without paying attention to whether Shidou had digested his words, Mengyue continued to explain.

"The reason is Kurumi's 'Twelve Bullets'. From the current information, as long as the two conditions of 'being hit by a bullet and returning to the past' and 'having spiritual power' are met, the memory of the previous world can be retained after changing the world."

"Wait a minute Meng Yue!"

Shidou hurriedly stopped him, held his head, took a deep breath to calm down, and asked,

"Since origami retains the memory of the previous world, then what's the matter with the origami I saw in school before?"

"I'm not very clear about this either."

Meng Yue shook her head and said,

"But it is certain that in this world, Origami did not take the path of revenge like in the previous world. It is just a hypothesis that the Origami in the previous world and the Origami in this world may have a huge gap in intelligence, which caused a conflict and prevented them from merging smoothly. In the end, Origami in this world, out of self-protection, changed into a form that would only switch under special conditions."

"Um... Sorry, I don't quite understand."

Shidou said that he was confused. In response, Mengyue shrugged and added.

"Well, actually it's just like a split personality. Just understand it like that, Shidou."

"I always feel like I'm being looked down upon..."

Ignoring Shidao's mumbling, Meng Yue continued,

"And you heard what I said on the radio about the special conditions that allow origami to become a spirit."

"Well, it's the spirit power of the elves, right?"

Shidou nodded. Recalling Origami who tried to kill Kurumi a few hours ago, he clenched his fists unwillingly.

He did change Origami's past, allowing Origami to live a peaceful life now. But it seems that Origami herself does not think that her sins can be erased in this way.

"Well, to put it the other way around. As long as you don't show your spiritual power in front of her, Origami won't be a threat."

Meng Yue shrugged and winked at Shidao.

"As for what to do? Shidou, you should know better than me."

"Ah."

Shidou nodded silently.

Date the elves, make them shy, and seal their spiritual power. Although it sounds ridiculous, it is the only way for Shidao to save the elves.

"I have made a date with Origami for tomorrow."

"Thro~ Isn't this quite capable? He's just an idiot Shidou."

Meng Yue couldn't help but tease Shi Dao with a sly smile on her face.

"But Mengyue, how did you retain the memories of the previous world?"

Shidou couldn't help but ask with some curiosity.

In the previous world, the opponent was not hit by the twelve bullets and returned to the past like Shidou, but in this world, Liangyi Mengyue also knew about the things in the previous world.

It's okay for Kuang San, after all, she was originally the master of Kekedi. But why Liangyi Mengyue didn't forget her memory is hard to explain.

"Sigh... My situation is a little different from yours, Shidou. Rather than retaining the memory, it's more like receiving it."

"What does this mean?"

Shidou asked in confusion. In response, Mengyue smiled and waved her hand.

"Well, it's not a big deal. Oh, here we are."

The girl suddenly stopped walking as she spoke. Shidou realized that he had walked to the entrance of the station without realizing it while they were talking.

"Okay, this is all the information I can give you. I'll just drop you off here."

"Eh?"

Hearing the girl's tone as if she was seeing him off, Shidou couldn't help but look confused.

"Mengyue...won't you come back with me?"

"Well, I'm not going back."

Mengyue nodded.

"So... where are you going to sleep tonight?"

"Of course I'm resting in a hotel. Ah——you don't have to worry about the money. I'll just use the Internet 'a little bit' and I'll be happy."

As if she had misunderstood Shidao's meaning, Mengyue showed her white teeth and made an "OK" gesture to him.

"That's it then. Go back and remember to rest early, Shidao."

"Eh? Wait a minute Meng Yue!"

Seeing Mengyue really turning around and leaving, Shidou hurriedly grabbed her.

"Is there anything else, Shidou?"

Meng Yue asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"I……"

Shidao opened his mouth slightly. He didn't know why, but even though he had a lot of things to say, a strange feeling of disobedience was stuck in his throat, making him unable to make any sound.

(Ah——idiot, Gokawa Shidao? Why did you come to see her?!)

He cursed himself inwardly. Shidou gritted his teeth and made up his mind to speak.

"Meng Yue...I want to seal your spiritual power."

Hearing Shidao's words, Mengyue's face did not show any fluctuation. She just smiled and answered calmly.

"why?"

"because……"

Shidou was speechless.

Here it comes again, this feeling of disobedience.

Why? Of course, it was to save the elves, to prevent them from showing such desperate expressions. This is the answer that Gokawa Shido has been insisting on since his actions until now.

However, for some reason, at this moment, facing Meng Yue, Shidao felt very insecure.

"Because...I want to help you..."

"Help me? Help me with what?"

"..."

"Sorry, that joke went a little too far."

Looking at Shidao who remained silent, Meng Yue sighed softly.

"But joking aside, I think you should have noticed what I wanted to say, Shidou."

"Um……"

Shidou nodded with some difficulty.

"In this world, I can already control the occurrence of spacequakes. As long as I want, I can quietly descend into the human world without attracting the attention of AST and DEM. Moreover, I can also decide with my own consciousness when to return to the neighboring world. I can also easily forge a household registration with my hacking skills, so I don't have to worry about money, housing, and daily life. Then, a problem arises."

Having said this, Meng Yue paused for a moment, looked at Shidao, and a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"Shidou, what's your reason for sealing my spiritual power?"

"—"

Completely speechless, facing Mengyue's too sharp question, Shidao could only open his mouth blankly, unable to answer a word.

"Then, the origami problem is still unsolved. Wouldn't it be better if I just keep it like this?"

After leaving these final words, Meng Yue put on her headphones again, turned around and left with light steps.

09 A transition chapter that I am too lazy to come up with a title for (brushing activities)

==============================

By the time Shidou returned to his home from Akihabara, it was almost 11 o'clock.

"What on earth are you thinking about!? Stupid Shidou!"

As soon as he entered the house, Shidao saw Kotori with her hair standing on end with anger.

This is not hard to understand. He had originally agreed to explain the whole thing to her after school, but he suddenly sent a text message and ran to Akihabara, and ended up returning in the middle of the night. If Shidou were in the same position, he would probably be very angry.

"Sorry……"

Shidou bowed his head and apologized to Kotori.

"..."

Seeing Shidou looking listless, Kotori frowned slightly, scratched her cheek, and finally sighed slowly.

"Forget it, I'll let you go this time. Anyway, come in first."

"Ah."

I came to my living room and saw several pizza takeout boxes on the table. It seemed that everyone had ordered pizza for tonight.

Although he felt that it was a bit unhealthy, Shidao knew he was wrong and couldn't say anything.

"Welcome back... Really..."

On the other side of the sofa, Murasame Reine was still looking at Shidou in a drowsy manner.

"Why is Miss Lingyin here?"

"Well... don't worry about it... it feels like a secretary..."

Lingyin answered slowly.

"So--"

Kotori sat opposite Shidou, placed a recording terminal on the table, crossed her legs, held a lollipop in her mouth, and her playful face revealed a bit of seriousness.

"What happened? Explain it to me now."

"Okay, okay..."

Feeling like a prisoner being interrogated, Shidou smiled bitterly, adjusted his mood a little, and told Kotori everything he had experienced.

He and Tobiichi Origami knew each other;

On November 11, Tobiichi Origami was transformed into a spirit by the phantom, and then reversed and started destroying the city;

He worked with an elf named Ryougi Yumezuki and Kurumi to change history that day;

Then, in this changed world, Shidou discovered that Origami Tobiichi and Yumezuki Ryougi were the elves Devil and Hacker.

"I see……"

Hearing Shidou's words, Kotori nodded thoughtfully.

According to common sense, Shidou's words would definitely be regarded by Kotori as the wild imagination of a chuunibyou syndrome, but it just so happened that not long ago, the surveillance camera that Kotori sent to Raizen High School just captured the moment when Origami turned into a reverse elf and attacked Shidou and Kurumi.

This undoubtedly proved that Shidao's words were true.

Then, based on the premise of "historical change", Kotori and Reine naturally began to discuss a problem.

Why are Shidou and Origami able to retain their memories of the previous world?