This is not the date I wanted.

Seeing Kotori's furious look, Shidou shrank his head and defended himself in a low voice.

"I know. I know that you had no choice but to agree to Kurumi's proposal! But understanding and accepting are two different things!"

"Y-yeah… I'm sorry."

"what……"

After letting out a long breath, Kotori scratched her hair, trying to calm her somewhat impatient mood.

"Well... it's our fault that we didn't respond in time at the critical moment. Shidou! Hit me too! That way we'll be even!"

"Eh……"

Shidou looked at Kotori with an embarrassed expression. As a brother, he naturally had no reason to be violent towards his sister, but seeing Kotori closing her eyes and exposing her face to him, if he was perfunctory, Kotori would probably not forgive him.

After hesitating for a moment, Shidou quietly went around behind Kotori, put his hands into Kotori's armpits, and then - moved his fingers with a click.

“Wha! Wait, wait a minute… Ahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Kotori couldn't help herself and started laughing, twisting her body.

"Well, that's pretty much it."

"Ha...ha...that's too despicable...Shidou..."

After freeing the blushing Kotori, Shidou walked towards the living room contentedly.

Then, about ten minutes later, the elves living in the elf apartment, including Tohka and others, Nia, Miku and Origami who had their own homes in the city, and Ratatoskr's analyst Murasame Reine, all gathered at the Itsuka family.

Among them, there was a guest who surprised Shidao.

"Long time no see! Brother!"

"Really?!"

Shidou couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he saw Mana greeting him with great vigor.

"What happened? How did you get hurt?"

Noticing the bandages wrapped around Mana's body, Shidou asked in surprise.

"Well, there's something..."

Mana glanced cautiously in Kotori's direction and said hesitantly.

Moreover, it wasn't just Mana, Shidou soon noticed that the Yamai sisters also had a lot of bandages on their bodies.

"What happened?"

"Ah, it is indeed the enemy's strongest sword. Even I, the daughter of the hurricane, cannot escape unscathed."

"Sigh. It's been a while since I've been in such a tough battle like that."

"Are you okay...Kotori, what happened?"

Looking at the three people worriedly, Shidou couldn't help but ask Kotori.

"Including this, I will explain everything together. Anyway, everyone...Where's Sister Mengyue?"

"Um, um! Meng Yue just sent a text message saying she'll come back later, so you guys should have the meeting first."

Using Rokuko as a shield, Nanashi kept dodging Miku who was trying to pounce on her, and explained hurriedly.

"Hey~ Don't run, Nanashi-chan."

Seeing Nanami's resistance, Mijiu not only did not give up, but on the contrary, her desire to hug her and rub against her became stronger and stronger, so she played the game of Qin Wang circling the pillar with Nanami.

"What kind of play is this?"

Rokuko asked with a curious look on his face.

“——Ahem!”

Kotori coughed forcefully twice, drawing everyone's attention to herself.

"Since Sister Mengyue said so, let's start the meeting. First of all——"

Then, Kotori began to explain to everyone the various events that happened today.

Tokisaki Kurumi returns to school.

DEM launched a surprise attack in the evening.

Mana, the Yami sisters, Yumezuki, and Kurumi have reached some kind of cooperative relationship.

Shidou and Kurumi have a life-and-death duel based on a date.

"Mana, first of all, how did you know the time of DEM's attack? Why did you act with Kurumi's clone? Also, why didn't you inform me in advance, but ran out of the medical center alone to act without authorization?"

"It's a misunderstanding."

Feeling Kotori's cold gaze, Mana broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead and quickly waved his hand to explain.

"The reason I didn't tell you is because I myself was skeptical about the information about the DEM attack."

Hearing Mana's words, Kotori raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Half-believing? What's going on?"

Then, Mana began to explain the whole story.

Just last night, Tokisaki Kurumi suddenly appeared in Mana's room.

At first, Mana thought that the other party was planning to attack him at night, so he chopped off the other party's head without saying a word.

But then, Kurumi's clones appeared in front of Mana one after another. After killing several clones in a row, Mana realized that the other party seemed to have no hostility, so she finally stopped attacking and put her sword on the other party's neck to ask about his intentions.

Then, Kurumi clearly told Mana the information about today's DEM attack, including the time and location.

Although Mana didn't believe what Kurumi said, she still ran over quietly just in case.

As for why I didn't tell Qinli.

"If I tell you, I feel like Ms. Kotori will stop me..."

Mana turned her head and explained quietly. In response, veins on Kotori's forehead bulged slightly.

"Ah~ You really understand this, don't you? When we have time, why don't we have a good chat about it?"

"Well, my chronic illness seems to have flared up."

Ignoring Mana who started to pretend to be sick, Kotori looked at the Yamai sisters and asked.

"Yuugen, Yakuya. Were you also contacted by Kurumi and then learned about the DEM attack?"

In response to Kotori's continuous questions, Yakuya and Yui looked at each other and answered with some confusion.

"Well... even if you ask me, I have never interacted with the Time Witch. I simply helped her because I saw that she was in trouble."

"Answer. At that time, Yui and Yakuya were just at school when they received a request for assistance from Yumezuki. It was purely a coincidence that they met Kurumi."

"Kuku - that's right. I've always wanted to try something as cool as protecting everyone from danger in secret. So I readily agreed."

"Is it really Sister Mengyue..."

Hearing the answers from the Yamai sisters, Kotori sighed helplessly.

"In other words, Bili-chan has also met San-san like Mana-chan, and then told Yamai the information?"

After listening to everyone's conversation, Erya asked.

"That should be the case. When I saw Meng Yue in the morning, she seemed to know in advance that Kuang San was returning to school."

Shidou said.

"I'm back."

At this moment, the sound of a door opening was heard from the corridor. Then, everyone saw Meng Yue walking into the living room as usual.

"Swish~ Speak of the devil and he will appear. Mengyue-chan, you showed up at the perfect time. Could you be hiding outside the door and eavesdropping?"

Yoshina said with a smile.

"Honey~Welcome back. Would you like to eat first, or take a shower first? Or--"

"I won't eat you anyway."

Meng Yue said helplessly as she skillfully blocked Mijiu who was rushing towards her with her arms outstretched.

"Sister Mengyue, can you explain to us what happened?"

Looking at Kotori's serious expression and everyone's worried eyes, Mengyue shrugged her shoulders and nodded.

"Hey, I'll try to tell you everything I can. But your expression is too tense. Relax a little, Kotori-chan."

"Ugh - stop, stop it, Sister Mengyue -"

Rubbing Qinli's round face, Mengyue breathed a sigh of satisfaction.

——————————————————————I am back to the dividing line of late night——————————————————————————

"After school this afternoon, Mr. Shidou will be killed by the magician from DEM on the rooftop of Raizen High School."

"what?"

Hearing what Kuang San said, Meng Yue couldn't help but frown in confusion.

Staring at Kuang San's smiling expression, Meng Yue thought for a moment and then asked.

"What is the exact time of the attack this afternoon?"

"Five thirty to five thirty."

Kurumi answered without hesitation.

"Who are the enemy members?"

"Alan Mathers, Artemisia Bell Ashcroft, Ai Wulian, hundreds of pseudo-elves named 'Nibelcol', and three drones responsible for sniping."

"Hmph, you know it in quite some detail."

Meng Yue narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Although it was hard to believe that DEM's confidentiality work was so poor, the content of the raid plan did not seem to be made up on the spur of the moment.

"Of course, because that's true."

As if seeing through what Meng Yue was thinking, Kuang San explained with a smile.

"..."

Without paying any attention to Kuang San's words, Meng Yue continued to ask.

"Why did you know that Shidou went back to the rooftop at that time?"

"That's easy, because after we get to school, I'll ask him to meet me on the rooftop."

Kurumi answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"——!?"

The moment she heard this, Meng Yue's expression suddenly changed, and she stared at Kuang San with murderous intent.

There was a crackling sound - blue and white electric light began to dance on the bangs, but after a moment, Meng Yue withdrew her spiritual power, looked at Kuang San with her eyes calmed down again, and sighed helplessly.

"Are you happy testing me like this, Kurumi?"

Kurumi raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Ah. After hearing what you just said, don't you think that I am teaming up with the magician of DEM to kill Mr. Shidou?"

In response to Kuang San's question, Meng Yue said unhappily.

"DEM's goal is to obtain the power of the Reverse Spirit, and your goal is to devour the spiritual energy in Shidao's body. It is hard to believe that you two intend to divide the spoils equally. Moreover, you devour the spiritual energy in order to go back to the past and change history. If you succeed, the present will also change, and the fact that DEM obtained the Reverse Spirit Crystal will disappear. Westcott, who owns the 'Divine Eclipse Volume', obviously knows this. Regardless of the standpoint, interests, or emotions, there is no possibility of cooperation between you and DEM. And even if you really cooperated, why did you come here to tell me? Do you think I'm a fool?"

"Hahaha - it is true."

Hearing Meng Yue's answer, Kuang San clapped his hands with great satisfaction.

"Then, can you tell me? Where did you get the information about DEM attacking Shidou?"

"Well, that's natural. It turns out that I was rude before. Just like 'Ms. Mengyue' said, Miss Mengyue is trustworthy."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Noticing the oddity in Kuang San's words, Meng Yue showed a hint of confusion on her face.

"Ms. Mengyue, you asked me why I knew DEM's plan? Actually, the reason is very simple."

Kuang San looked at Meng Yue and said so.